Councillor who clashed with Jackie Weaver on infamous Zoom says life's been 'hell' since viral clip
Aled Brewerton and his father Keith, who were both in the famously chaotic Zoom meeting of Handforth Parish council with Jackie Weaver, say they received death threats after the clip went viral.
A councillor and his father who featured in the famous unruly Zoom meeting in which Jackie Weaver was told "you have no authority here" say their lives have become "hell" since the clip went viral.
Aled Brewerton and father Keith Brewerton, who were both involved in the Handforth Parish Council meeting in December 2020, apparently still can't go to local pubs and have even received death threats.
Jackie Weaver became an internet sensation after a clip from the chaotic meeting went viral online in February 2021.
She went on to become one of the most popular memes of 2021, has released a book and has appeared on television shows including Channel 4’s Big Fat Quiz Of The Year 2021 and Channel 4's Make Me Prime Minister.
But the councillors involved in the same meeting have said their lives have become "hell" in the aftermath of the lockdown incident.
Aled Brewerton, 46, who resigned from the council in April 2021, famously demanded that Weaver should: "read the standing orders – read them and understand them".
He says he and his father have since experienced harassment, including threats, and cannot even enjoy a drink at local pubs.
"I’ve been told that I deserve to die and burn in hell. It's that bad that even my partner has been threatened," he said.
"I didn't resign off the parish council because of any investigation; I resigned because the events made me ill and I was fed up.
"It was an absolute mess. Neighbouring councils wouldn’t work with us, we were the butt of all jokes. It really was embarrassing."
Handforth Parish Council - now Handforth Town Council - covers the Cheshire town of the same name.
Brewerton added: "Basically it’s been two years of hell.
"We’ve got a situation now where certain people don’t say, ‘Oh it’s Handforth Town Council’. The initials that are being used are HCC – for Handforth Clown Council.
"That’s not just in this area, I have seen that on YouTube nationally and Facebook nationally and that’s embarrassing for our village.
"I’ve been told that my home address has been shared on the internet and social media.
"And when I’ve got to go out in public it makes me feel uneasy."
His father, 76, added: "I went into a local pub with one of Aled’s friends on Aled’s birthday and people came in and started chanting at us.
"If we go to a pub, we go out of the village - we don’t go into local pubs because we do not wish to be involved in civil disobedience.
"It took me a fair while to convince Aled he could go into the village on his own and do his shopping."
The pair argue that the video should never have been published in the first place due to privacy issues - which would have avoided the situation they are in.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it had investigated a complaint but closed the case with no further action taken.
A spokesperson said: "The council stated that the recording of these meetings is standard as they are public.
"As a result, we provided guidance around data protection issues including reminding them of the importance of ensuring their privacy policies are clear and advise members of the public that their data may be captured during the recording of these meetings.
"They were also reminded of the lawful basis that the data is processed. The case has since been closed with no further action taken."