A VETERAN Tameside councillor has quit the Labour Party after almost 50 years in disgust at being ‘thrown under the bus’ after the Trigger Me Timbers investigation.
Cllr Vincent Ricci officially received a formal warning as punishments after a probe into the now notorious WhatsApp group were revealed.
But the Denton North East representative has handed in his membership after 47 years, furious the circumstances would not be made clear.
For his warning was for giving an interview to the BBC and speaking out at a luncheon club event after he was suspended – not for his role in the group itself – while ward colleague Cllr Denise Ward was completely cleared.
It is believed the Labour Party’s governance and legal unit told Cllr Ricci that while he was a member of Trigger Me Timbers, he was cleared of breaking rules as he did not post any inappropriate messages and took steps to raise concerns about the group with senior figures.
His formal warning was for the interview he gave after being initially suspended and made while he was receiving racist abuse after being one of 10 councillors suspended.
And the refusal of the Labour Party to clarify the reasons for that – instead leaving him publicly alongside Denton West’s George Jones and Brenda Warrington, who were warned of their part – brought his decision.
Now he will serve as an Independent for the remaining three years of his tenure after walking out of the party.
Cllr Ricci said: “I’ve been a Labour Party member for 47 years, without any wrongdoing, without ever being in the whips’ office.
“I’ve always done my job and gone over and above for my community. Labour has thrown me under the bus, yet again.
“I was exonerated of doing anything wrong in Trigger Me Timbers and I’ve been given a formal warning for speaking on BBC Northwest Tonight and at the Denton North East Luncheon Club in February.
“I contacted the Labour Party, asking for them to release what the warning was for so the public could know, but they refused.
“I didn’t want people to think this was because of Trigger Me Timbers and for these reasons, I’m officially resigning from the Labour Party.
“But I’ll remain as an Independent councillor to represent my community at the best of my ability, as I have since 1998.
“I’m not happy as I don’t want to be in the same room as the Labour councillors who made racist and homophobic remarks and have been brought back into the party.”
Of the 10 Tameside councillors suspended as Labour probed Trigger Me Timbers, Denton South’s George Newton and Jack Naylor have been expelled, with ward colleague Claire Reid being handed a six-month suspension – which appears to have been served as she is listed on Tameside Council’s website as being part of the Labour group.
Denton North East’s Cllr Allison Gwynne – wife of the town’s MP Andrew – is also said to have been given a similar punishment – but she is also listed as a Labour Party member.
Former leader of Tameside Council, Cllr Ged Cooney, is still waiting to hear what will happen after he was suspended – for reasons other than the Trigger Me Timbers group.
Audenshaw’s Cllr Charlotte Martin has resigned her Labour Party membership since her suspension.
Mr Gwynne remains under investigation while Burnley MP Oliver Ryan, an Audenshaw councillor at the time, received a six-month suspension from his party membership.
Trigger Me Timbers sparked uproar, both locally and nationally, after it was exposed.
Protests on the doorstep of Mr Gwynne’s constituency office saw people who feel ‘betrayed’ by the man who grew up in the town voice their opinions after reading comments posted in it like ‘joking about hoping a pensioner constituent died before the next election, one man being described as a ‘Grade A w***er,’ others being referred to as ‘crackpots’ along with other alleged anti-Semitic, sexist and racist slurs.
Cllr Ricci has been a vocal critic of the process, telling the BBC: “I’m so annoyed and frustrated at the Labour Party because it won’t listen to me.
“It’s disgraceful. I haven’t thrown the Labour Party under the bus, they’ve thrown me under the bus.”
At the luncheon club, he added: “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.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “Cllr Ricci has taken the decision to resign from the Labour Party, it’s disappointing that he’s taken this decision, but Tameside Labour is focused on delivering for the people in every corner of the borough.”