Video has caught the moment a council meeting descended into chaos after pro-Palestine protesters staged a demonstration before scuffles erupted when a Tory councillor attempted to restore order.
Councillor Craige Southern shouted ‘It’s Chorley, not bloody Gaza!’ after activist Jenny Hurley and a large group ‘hijacked’ the meeting which would have seen the council in Chorley, Lancashire debate the budget on Monday evening.
‘Get out! Go on!’ he said to activist Jenny Hurley as he pushed her from the chamber, after she changed tack on her question about housing in the borough to one about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Palestine.
Ms Hurley accused Cllr Southern of assaulting her but he told MailOnline that he tried to push her out the meeting as he felt ‘intimidated and threatened by the activists and I feared for the safety of others’.
Sharing the video on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Hurley said: ‘Tory councillor, Craige Southern, ASSAULTS me when we challenge Chorley council on why they have not passed a motion for ceasefire in Gaza during the horrific genocide.
‘First Hoyle stops our voice, now this! Chorley will be heard!’
It came just days after MPs spoke about how they were concerned about their safety amid heightened emotions over the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Video has caught the moment a Chorley Council meeting descended into chaos after pro-Palestine protesters staged a demonstration before scuffles erupted when a Tory councillor attempted to restore order
‘It’s Chorley, not bloody Gaza !’ Cllr Craige Southern pushes protester Jenny Hurley from the meeting
Noise and shouting in the council chamber gets louder and louder and several protesters stand up with their signs which read: ‘Chorley Borough Council: Silent on Genocide’.
The meeting happened in the constituency of the House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who last week broke with parliamentary convention in his handling of a debate on Gaza, claiming he was partly motivated to do so because of concerns about MPs’ security.
Outside the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’, which is seen as anti-Semitic, was projected onto the Elizabeth Tower.
Ms Hurley told Chorley Council: ‘I do find they’re painting over the cracks of the problem the housing market, much in the same way the Labour group painted over the cracks with their release of a private statement claiming their support for a ceasefire in Gaza, but they refused to follow this up with any public action.’
Chief executive Chris Sinnott then repeatedly said ‘Jenny’ but she continued and raised her voice. He said he then said he was forced to suspend the meeting and councillors and the mayor began to leave the chamber.
As she continued her tirade, another resident stood up and said: ‘Can I, as a resident of Chorley for 80 years, have two minutes of your time please?’
Ms Hurley then continued her speech and increased her volume over the other woman who was trying to speak.
The activist, her voice still rising in volume, urged the Labour group: ‘Stand up and put forward a motion for a ceasefire in an extraordinary council meeting.’
As Ms Hurley spoke, holding a Palestine flag up, an official told her that if she did not stop she would be removed from the chamber.
A woman on the other side of the council chamber starts loudly singing ‘la la la la la’ and sways her hands side to side in a kind of dance.
Cllr Southern told MailOnline that he tried to push her out the meeting as he felt ‘intimidated and threatened’
Noise and shouting in the council chamber gets louder and louder and several protesters stand up with their signs which read: ‘Chorley Borough Council: Silent on Genocide’.
A councillor then shouts ‘Free free Palestine!’ which is followed by a chorus of protesters repeating the chant. This chant is repeated several more times.
Ms Hurley then asked, loudly: ‘Why has no motion been put to this chamber. We were told that it would be happening, the Labour group would be happy to put a motion to this chamber. Why has that not happened?’
Then Tory councillor Craige Southern shouted: ‘Because it’s Chorley, not bloody Gaza! Get out! Go on!’
He then pushed her out the council chamber and was then pushed back by another protester as the room descended into further chaos.
Councillors, officials and protesters then got up close and personal with each other as voices continued to be raised.
A woman on the other side of the council chamber started to loudly singing ‘la la la la la’ and swayed her hands side to side in a kind of dance
‘Chorley Council has no opinion on what’s happening to people 1,000 miles away in Gaza, we are there to talk about Chorley Borough,’ said Cllr Southern
Police officers then entered the room and began to escort the protesters out as waved a Palestinian flag and repeatedly shouted: ‘Free Palestine!’
Police officers then entered the room and began to escort the protesters out as waved a Palestinian flag and repeatedly shouted: ‘Free Palestine!’
Cllr Southern has denied the accusation that he assaulted Ms Hurley, telling MailOnline: ‘I wish to make clear I did not attack anyone and I would be very careful suggesting that I did.
‘I was in fact protecting myself and others from these threatening and anti-democratic bullies who did all they could to try and disrupt the meeting to get their way over an issue that has absolutely nothing to do with Chorley Council.
‘This baying mob was so threatening the meeting was suspended and the mayor had to be taken to safety. Some councillors were in tears.’
He added: ‘Jenny Hurley and her mob were then ejected from the chamber. I spoke to the police about what had happened and I made a voluntary statement to them. I was not arrested.
‘I believe in rule of law and democracy. I’m tired of constant mob rule where they think they can come into a democratic arena and impose themselves. intimidation will not cowe me.
‘Chorley is a small market town in England, we have absolutely no views or no sway in what happens thousands of miles away in Gaza.’
‘Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. People have sympathy towards the people of Gaza – I do – but to hijack a democratically elected chamber is not ok,’ Cllr Southern said. ‘Have a rally, have a protest, whatever.’
‘But if it were to happen again, I would do it again. I will not have someone interrupting legitimate democratic debate.
‘And if I’m the one who’s got to stand up and say “enough is enough”, so be it.’
Cllr Southern added: ‘Sorry to make light of it, but we’re not Gaza. I’m a down to earth Geordie lad who happens to live in Lancashire and my duty is to residents in Chorley Borough.’
He said: ‘I’m all for free speech but what I won’t have is the mob trying to impose their will on us.
‘Chorley Council has no opinion on what’s happening to people 1,000 miles away in Gaza, we are there to talk about Chorley Borough.
‘Of course we care about Gaza – I have sympathy for Gaza, I think it’s terrible – but we can’t do anything about it.
‘And these people coming to protest couldn’t find Gaza on a map if you pointed to it.’
A spokesman for Lancashire Police told the BBC it had received a complaint of assault and was investigating, but no arrests had been made at this stage.