Oldham council meeting cut short ‘to watch Euros’

“Don’t get me wrong, I would love to go home and watch England. But the fact is we only have six full council meetings a year,” he added.

Mr Sykes said people “expect us to do our job”, with most people in the borough not having “the luxury of clocking off early just because they want to”.

He said he saw no reason for councillors to behave any differently.

Ms Shah called for the meeting to end at 19:30, requesting opposition questions about portfolio updates to be conducted in writing after the meeting.

But Mr Sykes argued that because there were only six voting meetings each year, she was “cutting the limited time” her opposition had to “hold the council cabinet to account”.

His suggestion to reject the proposed early end time or add an additional 10 minutes for council opposition motions was outvoted.