The council chamber was closed earlier this year when Gaza protesters held up pieces of paper which spelt out: Stop Genocide

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THEY have been a colourful part of the cut and thrust of council politics for decades.

But the tradition of bringing placards and banners to Town Hall meetings is set to end with Camden lawyers proposing a constitution­al rule change to stop them being held up in the public gallery or used in deputations.

The council’s stance is that it will be simply running things in a similar way to the Houses of Parliament where visitors – and MPs ­– are not allowed to bring in signs.

Councillors will be asked to vote through the new rules when they meet on Monday night to discuss a list of proposed amendments.

These also include measures to stop future deputations being about global issues which do not have a “significant” link to the borough and prevent anybody who is standing for election from making presentations at the all-member meetings.

Over the years, banners have been used by everybody from children campaigning against school closures to motorists opposing cycle lanes.

More recently, however, a meeting was suspended when Gaza protesters held up printed pieces of paper which spelt out ‘stop genocide’.

Liberal Democrat councillor Tom Simon, the leader of the opposition, said: “The outright prohibition of banners in council meetings and the limitations on who can take part in deputations go too far.

“They are a sledgehammer to crack a nut and would undermine participation in local democracy.

“People who are active in their local communities as part of a TRA or a residents group would be prevented from participating in a deputation if they are also active in a political party even if there is no election imminent.”

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Tom Simon

Before last year’s general election, one of Sir Keir Starmer’s ballot box rivals in Holborn and St Pancras, the independent candidate Andrew Feinstein, was involved in a deputation in the main chamber.

Green councillor Lorna Jane Russell is also querying the proposed changes to the constitution on placards.

She said: “Banners are a peaceful way for residents to voice concerns in a space where decisions affecting them are made.

“I’m concerned that barring them from council meetings ­– as Labour is proposing ­– would restrict legitimate forms of protest and public expression.”

Borough Solicitor Andrew Maughan, who authored the proposed changes, explained the council’s view at a scrutiny committee meeting last week.

He said that a ban on banners was already in place in committee rooms and Camden was simply “tidying up the language” in the rulebook to include the full council meetings.

“I’ve been to meetings where people have come in with banners and nobody has said anything, and we’ve tolerated them because they are small, they are modest and inoffensive,” he said.

“But it’s a debating chamber, not a chamber in which you demonstrate how good you are at needlework or how creative your graphic design is. It’s about what’s being said in the chamber.

“It’s the same reason, Parliament doesn’t allow them­– I’m not comparing us to Parliament, that’s slightly ambitious perhaps – but it’s a similar reason really.”

Camden had been reluctant to allow its full council sessions to become drawn into a debate about the conflict in the Middle East, before it was later pressed into discussing its own pension fund’s deposits in arms firms.

Labour councillor Matt Cooper asked what would happen if members wanted to pass a motion about the “fascists running America”.

Mr Maughan said that councillors had the option to vote to suspend standing orders if a majority wanted this to happen.