A protester caused furore at the Civic Centre as he repeatedly heckled councillors to fight against the cuts to voluntary sectors in Harrow. 


The man, who was sitting in the public gallery, disrupted last Thursday’s meeting of Harrow Council’s Cabinet, as he called on councillors to safeguard funding for charities in the borough.


Independent Councillor James Bond of Headstone North, criticised the leader of the council for failing to stop the disruption by the man, known to receive help from mental health charity, Mind in Harrow. 


The charity, which supports people of all ages with a variety of issues, is facing cuts of £25,843 from April 2017.


However, in a statement following the meeting, it said the man was not representing the organisation, or the user group, and that he was acting from a personal capacity.


During the meeting, councillors discussed the future delivery of arts and heritage services in the borough and the draft revenue budget for 2017-2018.


However, the topics Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) funding arrangements Withdrawn and approval of hardship fund policy were withdrawn from the cabinet meeting. 


Cllr Hall asked Harrow leader Cllr Shah if he felt that he carried out a “genuine and meaningful consultation” with voluntary sector organisations regarding budget cuts to the sector.


However, Cllr Hall said she was interrupted by a “heckler”.


She said: “The behaviour at Cabinet last week was totally and utterly unacceptable. It could and should have been dealt with by the leader of the Council, Councillor Sachin Shah who was chairing the meeting. 


“However, he seemed to take great delight at the Labour party member in the audience shouting abuse at me. He didn’t just heckle; he screamed, then got up, lunged and pointed at me. 


“He refused to order him out of the room, but instead turned my microphone off when I asked him to take control."


Cllr Shah said: "The man was making a passionate plea regarding funding for some of the most vulnerable members of our society, as a member of Mind’s User Group himself, so it is easy to understand why he wanted to have the opportunity to speak for a longer time.


“I did ask him to not disturb the meeting a number of times, but it is easy to understand why he was so passionate in his address to all members."


Cllr Bond said this was a "bad day" for Harrow Council; adding they failed in its duty of care.