Fierce opposition fails to derail plan to twin Brent and Nablus

Collier claimed the twinning had brought the council and the borough “into disrepute” and said the councillors who had voted for it or abstained should be “ashamed” of themselves. “It’s nothing more than political symbolism,” he said, “and the councillors supporting the twinning have created division within the borough by driving a wedge between communities.”

Pro-Palestinian activists at Brent Civic Centre after attending the council meeting on July 7[Missing Credit]

It is alleged that non-Muslim minority groups in Brent, including Jewish, Sikh, Hindu and the LGBT communities, were not consulted about the twinning before it was passed by the Labour-dominated council, with one Jewish Brent resident telling the JC that “no one even knew” about the proposal and locals were “completely blindsided” by it.

Brent & Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) organised a group of several dozen activists to attend the meeting on Monday evening, wearing Palestinian symbols and keffiyehs.

The council chamber at Brent Civic Centre during the meeting[Missing Credit]

The group jeered, laughed at and interrupted the speech by Collier and other councillors opposed to the twinning. Despite Brent’s mayor asking for good conduct and respect from everyone in the chamber before discussions commenced, hecklers shouted “lies”, “rubbish”, “shame”, “free Palestine” and said that the twinning was done “to try and stop genocide” from taking place.

In 2022, the council’s own equalities impact assessment report on the proposal to twin the towns raised concerns that it risked “compounding antisemitism” and “demonstrated greater support for one group over another”.

Despite the report’s findings, Collier said: “The council willingly and wilfully voted to proceed with the plans. This is a dereliction of the council’s duty. As representatives of the people, you should certainly not have done this.”

After Collier’s allotted five minutes were up, the large anti-Israel group in the chamber began yelling “time’s up”, and booed him.

Responding to Collier, Labour councillor Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent council, said he was “personally aware of the anxieties raised” and added: “We are not ignoring them. I will be meeting with representatives of Jewish community groups this week to hear those concerns directly.”

He said the forthcoming twinning arrangement was “not about endorsing any religious or political ideology” and would “be subject to a live and continuous equalities impact assessment”, and if it proved to undermine Brent community cohesion or values, it could be annulled.

He said it was the responsibility of the Brent Nablus Twinning Association to ensure the move would “have a positive, rather than divisive impact on the local community”.

Other speakers on the day against the twinning were Tory councillors Suresh Kansagra, Michael Maurice, and Kanta Mistry.

Tory councillors Suresh Kansagra and Michael Maurice during a Brent Council meeting in Brent Civic Centre on July 7, 2025 [Missing Credit]

Wembley Hill ward councillor Ihtesham Afzal, leader of the twinning campaign, said the people who are “trying to derail and delay this twinning” have “tried it all: lies, misinformation, deceit, racism and fearmongering”.

As the chamber moved on from the topic of twinning to discuss other local issues, the anti-Israel group shuffled out of the room and yelled “Free Palestine” in the hallway outside.

Liberal Democrat councillor Charlie Clinton said afterwards: “Anyone who can sit there and tell me that [the twinning] has not caused division in Brent, is not paying attention.”

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), an advocacy group offering legal advice to the anti-twinning action group, expressed “deep concern and disappointment” over the “entirely inappropriate” twinning, and said the council’s decision has “undermined community cohesion”.

Chief executive of UKLFI Jonathan Turner said: “UKLFI is troubled by the lack of transparent consultation with all community groups; the apparent breakdown in good local governance; the fact that many residents feel blindsided by this decision and that despite the loud, strong and deep local opposition, the council has decided to press forwards with twinning.

“UKLFI will continue to work with local residents to urge Brent to reconsider this divisive political posturing. If appropriate, UKLFI will take further action to force Brent to see how its actions are unlawful. We are working with the Board of Deputies and other non-Jewish organisations to understand what is happening at a council which seems to run without accountability and transparency nor due regard for its residents. This is another example of British local governments prioritising antisemitic and far-left ideological pursuits over the needs of local residents.”