THE TRUE extent of the divisions in Denton and the anger at suspensions of its councillors in the wake of the WhatsApp controversy have been revealed.
And the setting for such an impassioned speech revealing those feelings? A luncheon club.
Eight of the town’s representatives on Tameside Council find themselves suspended from the Labour Party as the now notorious Trigger Me Timbers group is investigated.
Its MP, Andrew Gwynne, was sacked from his role as a health minister after its contents were revealed and there are growing calls for him to resign.
Now Cllr Vincent Ricci has delivered his verdict on the actions since the group’s messages, which have also seen Audenshaw’s Cllr Charlotte Martin, former Tameside Council leader Cllr Gerald Cooney and Oliver Ryan MP – who was a councillor for Audenshaw at the time statements were made in it – suspended.
Diners at the Denton North East Luncheon Club get together on Thursday, February 27 also ended up getting more than they imagined.
As he and ward colleague, Cllr Denise Ward, remain sidelined, he said: “I’m disgusted that Denise and I have been treated like this. At the moment, we’re Independent councillors through no fault of our own
“I’ve been getting disgusting hate mail on my phone and there are people going around Denton saying, ‘All the councillors who were on it should be suspended.’
“Well, there are 14 on that group. Denise and I being two. When it was set up on January 2, 2019, by Cllr Claire Reid, we were told we had to be on it.
“And the reason why we were was when we were working in our ward – activities, sharing discussions at meetings, leafleting, campaigning, Christmas cards – so we joined it.
“We were on it for all the right reasons, then it started turning nasty and we didn’t like what we saw.
“The response to that is we get suspended and I’m absolutely livid.”
Cllr Ricci, a Labour Party member for 49 years and a councillor for Denton North East since 1998, also detailed what he and Cllr Ward, along with Cllr Cooney, did about the group, which he says has now been deleted, while also aiming a thinly-veiled dig towards the third ward member, Cllr Allison Gwynne.
He added: “I approached Andrew Gwynne and Cllr Ward approached others to get it stopped. The response we got was that on April 7, 2022, we were booted off the site for bringing up what we thought was disgusting behaviour.
“I showed it to Cllr Ged Cooney and he took it to the Labour Party – he’s been suspended.
“Denise and I go over and above what we should be doing in the ward for the people we represent – this luncheon club has been going 14 years and one of our colleagues is Cllr Allison Gwynne.
“I bet some of you have never seen her, never met her but we put up with it, we get on with it and we do our job.”
Despite the apparent deletion of the WhatsApp group, Cllr Ricci revealed he still has it on his mobile phone.
And he says that to answer criticisms and jibes from members of the public, he is willing to show it to anyone.
He continued: “I can tell you now, hand on heart, I’ve got the WhatsApp group on my phone. I can back up everything I’m saying.
“Anyone in this room, or anyone in Denton, is quite welcome to come and see me and I’ll show them what I’ve got on my phone.
“To anyone out there who wants to listen to people saying, ‘They should all be thrown off,’ you can give them my name or Denise’s and you can tell them I have the evidence.
“When Andrew Gwynne was sacked by Sir Keir Starmer – I’m not worried about getting into trouble for saying this as everything is true and fact – the site was deleted from the internet and the world.
“I was advised to block the administrator, which I did, and I still have it. Anybody is welcome to see it if they think I’m telling lies.”