Martin Mullaney's select committee - be there, or be square

Brave indeed, given Mullaney's experiences this week when his select committee visited Stratford Road for a fact-finding tour. Members were hounded up and down the road by angry traders, who are now threatening to refer Mullaney to the local government Ombudsman for refusing to let them have their say.
How will Mullaney handle Tuesday's meeting?
"I'll be firm but fair. I'm not going to let people waffle on," he said.
He plans a heavyweight top table comprising of council officials, traders' representatives and local councillors.
Members of the public will be able to "feed" questions to the panel.
After each member of the panel has delivered a brief introductory statement, they'll be cross-examined by the rest of the committee.
My money is on the meeting ending in utter chaos within ten minutes, but we shall see.
It could be Mullaney's last hurrah for a while.
He is up before the council Standards Committee on March 14 along with fellow Lib Dem councillor Ernie Hendricks. The pair are accused of trespassing on private land in an attempt to film a building which they said was unsafe and had been adapted without planning permission.
The owner of the building contends that the pair acted in a disrespectful manner and in doing so brought the council into disrepute.
Mullaney admits that the Standards Committee could suspend the two of them as councillors for a couple of months, but remains undaunted: "I did it in the public interest because I thought the building was unsafe."
It would be ironic indeed if the committee was to take action against Mullaney and Hendricks when the Standards Board for England, a far more powerful body, thought it wasn't worth admonishing Tory councillor John Lines for referring to asylum seekrs as scumbags who wouldn't do a day's work in their lives.