Council to edit meeting after camera left on for toilet trip

Hanif Raja has been a councillor in Pollockshields since 2012

A council has been forced to edit a recording of a meeting after a member live-streamed himself going to the toilet, forgetting to switch off his camera.

Hanif Raja made the mistake during a planning meeting for Glasgow City Council earlier this week.

The Labour representative was seen sitting down on the toilet before colleagues alerted him to his camera still being on.

The meeting has been removed by the local authority from its website, but officials said it will be made available again once the footage of Bailie Raja has been edited out.

Bailie Raja said he needs regular comfort breaks as he is diabetic, which can lead to needing to go to the bathroom frequently.

He was first elected to represent Pollokshields in 2012, and has retained his seat ever since.

The meeting was set to discuss an application relating to a battery storage system on Helen Street when he appeared on camera walking into his bathroom.

At that point another councillor can be heard to ask: "Before we start, Bailie Raja are you aware that your camera is live?"

The clip swiftly circulated on social media.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Bailie Raja said the incident happened "by mistake" and that he apologised.

He added: "The button was pressed and I didn't notice.

"I'm diabetic. I need to go to the toilet every hour or so. I take a comfort break every time. You don't sleep at night, you have got to wake up three or four times. That was the reason."

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: "We have temporarily taken the webcast recording offline this morning. It will be edited, without removing any of the discussion, and reuploaded."

Mr Raja is not the first politician to be be caught out on a Zoom call.

In 2023 the provost of Inverness was seen on a council webcast cleaning her windows while tuned in to a committee meeting.

Other councillors have been forced to resign their portfolio after being caught driving while trying to attend a meeting at the same time.