Councillor who faced intimidation 'won't be cowed'

A councillor who faced aggressive and threatening behaviour from a colleague said she "won't be cowed by fear and intimidation".

A Slough Borough Council investigation found Puja Bedi was made to feel "horrendous fear for her safety" by fellow Conservative councillor Iftakhar Ahmed in October 2023.

She told colleagues at a meeting on Thursday that she had been driven to talk about what happened by the "wider story of women and girls in this borough and across our country who have suffered any form of abuse or intimidation".

Ahmed defended his behaviour and accused the council's standards committee, which found against him, of trying "to suppress my democratic voice".

Councillor Bedi also told councillors how she had been diagnosed with bowel cancer late last year – "a profoundly shocking and life-altering discovery".

But she said she was now "beyond grateful to stand here cancer-free".

She said: "Everything I have faced has only strengthened my resolve to focus on what truly matters."

She was speaking during a discussion on a new "members' pledge" committing councillors to "respectful debate" in "safe and welcoming spaces".

Liberal Democrat councillor Sabia Akram said she approached the council about introducing the pledge – an idea she said was "driven by personal experience".

She said women in the council "have felt often like there isn't a safe place to speak or speak out" and "have experienced sexism and misogyny, discrimination".

Ahmed was found to have made "aggressive and threatening gestures" towards Bedi at a meeting about traffic measures.

The investigation found onlookers were "legitimately fearful of what [Ahmed] might do" and that two people had to "interpose themselves" between him and Bedi.

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