February 5, 2021, 2:09 pm
A video recording of a chaotic Zoom meeting of the Handforth Parish Council’s Planning and Environment Committee between a number of old British people is going viral for its utter hilarity. It’s clear from the start that there has been conflict over the way these meetings are conducted before as it quickly descends into an argument over who is going to chair the meeting and who has the authority to call points of order.
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The video that first kicked off this new internet sensation was initially posted on YouTube Thursday and has already racked up over 1.6 million views. It’s only a “best of” video, but even that is 18 minutes of frustrated people who aren’t great at using the ol’ mute button, packed with drama and humor that the world’s greatest writers would envy.
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It’s hard to figure out who is supposed to be the chair of this meeting in all the chaos, but from the minutes analyzed by Mashable, it appears that Cllr Tolver, the first guy to be kicked out, was invited to be the chair but was upset about the way the meeting was called. He accused Jackie Weaver, who had administrative control over the Zoom call, of having no authority as she was merely supposed to be the meeting clerk.
Two other men seemed to back Tolver on this and became angry when she kicked him out of the call, so she kicked them out, too.
“Cllrs Brewerton and Burkhill behaved in a similar manner and were also removed to the waiting room,” the minutes read. “In the waiting room they were advised that they would be welcome to re-join the meeting if they ceased their disruptive behaviour. There was no response.”
If you don’t have 18 minutes, one of the most dramatic 30 seconds was clipped in a Twitter video.
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“You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver,” says Tolver. “No authority at all.”
This is followed by chattering from other meeting attendees saying that Weaver had kicked him out of the call.
“This is a meeting called by two councilors,” Weaver says before someone jumps in to call the move illegal, “who may now elect a chairman.”
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“No they can’t because the vice chair’s here. I take charge,” says either Brewerton or Burkhill. “Read the standing orders. Read them and understand them!”
It’s not possible to understate how much rage and drama is behind that last command. That is, of course, when Brewerton and Burkhill get kicked out.
The YouTube user who posted the “best of” video also deserves credit for some of their hilarious captioning, including gems like “tantrum noises” over some incomprehensible screeching by one particularly annoyed meeting attendee.
The entire debacle has spawned a flood of memes as clips from the meeting spread on Twitter.
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*First Published: February 5, 2021, 2:09 pm
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