Brent Council leader accused of sexism after tweeting about the Olympic Games

Cllr Muhammed Butt commented on Women’s Weightlifting event on Twitter

The leader of the council has hinted he may close his twitter account after he was accused of referring to women as the “weaker sex” on the social networking site.

Cllr Muhammed Butt posted the “tweet” while watching the Women’s Weightlifting event at the Olympic Games.

It said: “Women’s weightlifting is making me feel like the weaker sex’.

Kensal Rise resident, Rowan Williams, spotted the tweet, which was later deleted, and sent it to the Times.

She said: “I think that kind of flippant remark is dangerous because it can show someone’s true view.

“It conforms to the stereotype that women are in some way the weaker sex and that all men are big and strong, which is not the case.”

Cllr Butt insists he wanted to portray women as powerful and to express how much they have achieved in society.

He said: “This has been taken completely out of context. It’s come to the point where I am thinking about deleting my account because if I get picked up on everything, even innocent comments thenwhat is the point.”

Cllr Butt was criticised for tweeting pictures of himself at the Olympics opening ceremony, which he attended for free with a family member.

Community members claimed he should have taken an inspirational resident with him or given the tickets away.

Ms Williams added: “I think twitter can be a great tool for engaging with your residents but he should be setting an example for the council and all the people in it.

“Politics is still very dominated by the male race and comments like this really don’t help to change this perception.”

“I tweeted back but got no apology, perhaps he doesn’t think there is anything to apologise for.”

Cllr Butt added: “If residents have any grievances they can come to me, I am always willing to listen but this comment has been taken out of context.”