Another Account of the Rochdale 'Tiff'

IN her column entitled 'Putsches, paedophiles and politics: the Rochdale council story so far' in the Manchester Evening News, Jennifer Williams writes:
'Over the past year I've written an endless stream of stories on the bizarre machinations of Rochdale politics, but in the last few days they have entered a new realm of madness.'

It only goes to show that we let it all hang out up here, and that we certainly don't wrap nowt up in Rochdale.  Ms. Williams continues: 
'Here is how the borough is split.
On the one side is Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk and new council leader Richard Farnell.
On the other is Heywood and Middleton MP Jim Dobbin and his employee and former council leader Colin Lambert, the man Farnell replaced in a putsch 10 days ago.'

Simon Danczuk is on a committee that has today grilled the former Rochdale Council leader Colin Lambert.  Coun Lambert - a long-standing rival of Mr Danczuk - said political ‘games’ were played, but added:  'It was an exercise in which we put it out in public and I would never do that any different. At the end of the day the public had a right to give their view and their view was quite rightly listened to.'

Lambert was being asked him why he tried – unsuccessfully – to give former chief executive Jim Taylor a £40,000 pay rise last year.

At the same time Mr. Lambert's ally, fellow councillor Farooq Ahmed, is up in court accused of verbally abusing Danczuk's employee Neil Emmott in the street.  Mr. Emmott is also a Rochdale Labour councillor.

There will surely be tears before all this is over and done with.