Labour Party: Strange Allegations & Deselections

MARK Hollinrake, the Rochdale Green Party candidate for Kingsway in today's local elections has expressed his dismay and shock at the local Labour Party's 'deselection of loyal and effective long-standing local councillor, Lynne Brosnan, who has served the local community extremely well.'  

The deselection of Labour Councillor Brosnan follows a denunciation of her on a You-Tube telephone recording some months ago in which Labour Councillor Sara Rowbotham made unsubstantiated allegations against Cllr. Brosnan and another Councillor as 'knowing all about Cyril [Smith]' . 

All this was placed in the public domain through the You-Tube video, but the somewhat emotional remarks and allegations which amounted to a rant by Cllr. Rowbotham are unsupported by any evidence what-so-ever.  At the time Cllr. Rowbotham was seemingly unaware that her conversation was being recorded, much less that it would be later made public.

Later Councillor Blundell at an informal meeting of Labour supporters warned that this remark was potentially 'defamatory' inferring it should not be discussed, and that a high level investigation into the claim was to take place.  So far as we know no evidence has ever been produced to support Cllr. Rowbotham's allegations and there has been no clarification as to why she pronounced on this matter or made the unsupprted allegations.

Yesterday, with this in mind, I sent the e-mail below to Cllr. Blundell:
'At the most recent meeting of Labour supporters, which you attended at *******, reference was made to a recorded telephone conversation involving Cllr. Rowbotham in which she made allegations about Cllr. Lynn Brosnan and another Councillor you made a serious claim:  you raised the point that repeating them might be potentially defamatory.  In the light of this you suggested people ought to be cautious in their comments, and there was little or no discussion, although this was clearly a contentious issue.  You went on to say that a council investigation was being planned to consider these allegations which had already been placed in the public domain on a You Tube video.  Has this inquiry into these allegations taken place yet?  If not, why was this matter not investigated as you claimed at the meeting it would be?'

Thus far, reply 'Came There None' from Cllr. Blundell!

Furthermore, he has also failed to answer the following question also in my e-mail:  'I ask this question in the light of the forthcoming local elections in which Councillor Brosnan has now been deselected as a Labour candidate.  Has this deselection of Cllr. Brosnan been brought about owing to the allegations of Cllr. Rowbotham, which were later made public on the You Tube video?'

Could this shyness on his part have something to do with reports of his own lust for the leadership of the Rochdale Labour Party?

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Cllr. Rowbotham, Big Cyril & Single Issue Politics

by Brian Bamford

ON the 5th, December Carl Faulkner, an independent analyst and investigator concerned about the decline of common decency in local political life, published a video skillfully outlining the attitude of most Rochdale councillors to the importance of democratic procedures in local politics.  The video entitled 'Birds of a feather:  Protecting the Guilty' * and commenting on the Rochdale  full council meeting of Oct. 2018, that  describes in detail how councillors of a Labour complexion gave spirited support to one of their brethren who is a self-confessed fraudster using postal ballots to vote more than once in the last municipal elections in Rochdale.

This artfully designed video superbly captures the depth to which Rochdale politics has sunk, with the now disgraced Council leader Allen Brett calling on the Council to let the culprit fraudster, councillor Faisal Rana, be 'allowed to continue his good work'.  Councillor Brett was responding to a formal motion from the Tory leader of the opposition inviting Councillor Rana to 'just reflect on the positon that he's in and the position that he's put the Borough in'.

The Rochdale Labour councillors are by now well immune to controversy and scandal having endured pantomime politics for decades under the tutelage of such tacticians as Simon Danczuk, Richard Farnell, and now Allen Brett.  Perhaps we ought to mention that at the time the tragedy of Cambridge House was in being as a going concern in the 1960s, Cyril Smith was a big noise in the Rochdale Labour Party.

The now disgraced Council leader Allen Brett is merely the ultimate conclusion of a rather bad bunch.  Alongside him Sara Rowbotham cuts a curious figure as his deputy, it was she who rose to fame when Maxine Peak portrayed her in the 'Three Girls' dramatisation on TV.  She is interesting because she has a following among a campaign group called 'Parents Against Grooming' or PAG.**

PAG supporters were out in force at the Council meeting at which Allen Brett defended the self-confessed fraud Faisal Rana.  But they were clearly less interest on electoral swindling than on the exploits of a dead man in the last century at Cambridge House etc.  Historical memory is not to be ignored, as we know that even today that Spaniards are anxious to unearth the bones of victims of General Franco in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39.  If the supporters of PAG want to explore and campaign for what they call the 'survivors' of Cyril Smith they are entitled to do so.

What is worrying is that in doing so, and pursuing a single issue, the PAG campaigners  may be overlooking what is now under their own noses:  that is that they themselves may be being used as 'useful idiots' by an ambitious politician to feather her own nest.  I can't say this for certain, but their own heroine Sara Rowbotham has gone on record of making allegations against other Rochdale councillors, yet at the meeting PAG attended Sara had no qualms about joining the 'Roll of Shame' and backing the electoral fraud, Faisal Rana.

In this respect by getting carried away with the virtue signals and grandstanding of these half-baked ambitious politicians aren't you being a bit myopic?   Before you start to 'Look Back in Anger', just consider that I was one of those folding RAP in the cellar on Spotland Road, when in May 1979 the allegations against Cyril Smith at Cambridge House were first about to be put into the public domain.  Also, this Northern Voices Blog together with John Walker former joint editor of RAP; the Westminster Blogger, Paul Waugh; and the much lamented former Rochdale MP, Simon Danczuk,   created the conditions for PAG to exist after Danczuk made his speech in Parliament in 2012 (see the excerpt from the Northern Voices Blog archive in November 2012 below).***

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*    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFFKrkQaKqw&feature=youtu.be

** See the video link in which Sara Rowbotham denounces Councillor Allen Brett entitled

'3 BOYS , A GIRL AND A GROOMER ROCHDALE COUNCIL PART 5': 
PART 5 OF SURVIVORS MATTERS EXPLANATION AS TO WHY ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL HAVE REPEATEDLY MADE PROMISES TO THEM ONLY TO LEAD SURVIVORS ON THE ROAD TO NOWHERE , WHILST ROCHDALE COUNCIL TRYING TO PORTRAY ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND CHANGE

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9gXUO6bK0qRQxCqmjKBenQ

***   Monday, 19 November 2012

It Was The Voices That Did It!

Cyril Smith - the Legend Falls

LAST WEEK, Northern Voices was party with others to the opening up of a story that has lied in the shadows for decades.   We cannot claim all the credit as we did not do the original research into Cyril Smith:  that was performed by the editors of the Rochdale Alternative Paper (RAP) in May 1979, when they first published the story and were threatened by Cyril Smith's solicitors at the time with a 'gagging writ'.  Private Eye and the New Statesman followed through with reports but the case against 'Smith the Man' was killed before it reached the mainstream media.  Later attempts to resurrect the story also failed because those giving evidence against Sir Cyril Smith lacked the confidence to put their names in the public domain. 

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Can Councillor Brett Survive the banter

or his deputy Sara Rowbotham's scatter-gun?

A STRANGE recording was recently aired in a YouTube video.  It was filmed on behalf of a body called 'Survivors Matter'* and dealt with events which followed the last meeting of Rochdale Council.

The YouTube recording starts with a telephone exchange in which Councillor Sara Rowbotham, the deputy leader of Rochdale Council, is highly critical of two of her fellow Labour councillors.  Northern Voices has e-mailed Councillor Rowbotham asking her to confirm or deny that the recording referred to in the link below* is authentic.  Reply came there none! 

It seems clear that Councillor Rowbotham wasn't aware that she was being taped because, after criticising the two councillors, she then turned her scatter-gun on her Labour Party colleagues or as she called them, 'the nasty bastards behind me', of which one was her leader, Councillor Allen Brett, who was sitting right next to her in the Rochdale Town Hall Council Chamber.

In August, a draft report of an investigation into the council leader's conduct, involving his careless remarks or 'banter' about withholding funds for road improvements was leaked to the media.  It is reported that the draft report suggested that he ‘brought himself, his office and the council into disrepute’.

But if Councillor Brett may have brought Rochdale Council into disrepute, what now of his deputy leader Councillor Rowbotham, caught on tape blasting-off liberally against her colleagues?  May she too have had what the earlier draft report on Councillor Brett describes as had ‘a detrimental impact on the public’s perception’ of the council.

Both Rochdale's Leader Brett, and now his deputy Councillor Rowbotham seem to have behaved somewhat recklessly to say the least.

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plcpbDLm6Pg

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'Brave New World' Hatching Eggs & Councillors

by Brian Bamford

ON the 6th, June, the website 'SKWAWKBOX' ran a story about a series of squabbles in local Labour Party branches around the country, but in particular it focused on some problems in the Rochdale Party.  Much has already been written about the disgrace brought about by the former Rochdale leader Richard Farnell, and Rochdale's former MP, Simon Danczuk.  But now a local Labour party branch has lodged its rejection of the local selection processes and the conduct of those behind them.

Northern Voices two weeks ago, was present at a meeting in the Rochdale ward of Castleton, when the status of the Local Campaign Forums in the Labour Party were discussed.  We didn't report on this then because resolutions and complaints were then still ongoing.

The 'Local Campaign Forum' it seems is used by the hierarchy within the Rochdale Labour Party as a kind of 'hatchery'*  whereby the local party bosses can manufacture future councillors in their own likeness.

Thus the regime which first laid eggs with Simon Christopher Danczuk and his aide Matthew Baker earlier in this decade, may now go on to hatch other specimens in a similar mold to Richard Farnell and the present Rochdale Labour leader Allen Brett.  Interesting bets are now being placed upon Councillor Sara Rowbotham being dusted-off for future glory in the realm of Rochdale politics:  a former sexual health worker, Ms. Rowbotham, for those who haven't heard of her, was portrayed by Maxine Peake in the docu-drama 'Three Girls'.   

According to the current report on the 'SKWAWKBOX' website:
'Seven Labour branches so far, as well as the whole Heywood and Middleton constituency party, have passed the resolution shown below and have sent it with evidence they consider shows rule breaking.  However, because of distrust of Labour’s regional office, the resolutions have been sent instead to the regional board, the body that oversees councillor discipline.'

These kind of ructions have long been going on in the Rochdale Labour Party, only last December the secretary of Rochdale Constituency Labour Party, Sharon MacLean, resigned in protest at what she describes as the party’s ‘inaction’ over the Knowl View child sex abuse scandal.

Sharon MacLean said Rochdale Council leader Richard Farnell should have been suspended over his handling of claims boys were being abused at the residential school.

In her resignation letter shown to the Manchester Evening News, Ms MacLean wrote:  'I am no longer able to be part of a local leadership that has defended [former Rochdale MP] Simon Danczuk , voted for 34% councillor allowances in a time of austerity and now, most importantly, defend the current Council Leader of Rochdale Council around the issue of CSA.'

Rochdale Labour Party may be in power and in office, but it is not a very united entity.

*   A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish or poultry. It may be used for ex-situ conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled conditions; alternatively, it may be for economic reasons (i.e. to enhance food supplies or fishery resources).

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Musical Chairs on Rochdale Council

COUNCILLOR Allen Brett, Coun Farnell’s deputy, got the job as leader of Rochdale Council, after he was nominated by Councillor Sara Rowbotham and seconded by Councillor Neil Emmott,  The motion for Allen Brett to become Coucil leader was also supported by Councillor Ashley Dearnley and a number of Conservaties.
For some this feels like Musical Chairs on Rochdale, and already two cabinet members have resigned as a consequence of the appointment of Councillor Brett.

Jacqueline Beswick and Peter Williams

In his resignation email, passed to the Manchester Evening News, Coun Williams praised Councillor Beswick as an ‘excellent and very experienced candidate’ and said the rejection of a female leader was an ‘important matter given Rochdale’s history’.  But he said the main reason for his resignation was Coun Farnell’s evidence to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), writing: “For a leader to not be able to recollect so many specific questions about his knowledge of events at the time was a disgrace. So I cannot serve alongside the apparent successors. Yesterday was a sad day with no change, or acknowledgement on this issue.”

Speaking to the M.E.N. he added: “Richard Farnell’s deputy becoming leader means there is broadly no change in the regime so I am not prepared to continue.”

Coun Donna Martin also stood down from her role as deputy leader the day after Coun Farnell’s resignation.

It’s the second time Coun Brett has served as leader of Rochdale council, following a short spell in charge in 2005.

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Now Sara Rowbotham backs Tony Lloyd!

IN what looks like a panic move Rochdale Labour Councillor Sara Rowbotham, who was played by Maxine Peake in the BBC docu-drama 'Three Girls', has gone on record saying she has given her full support to Tony Lloyd, the Rochdale Labour Party candidate in the 2017 general election next month.

Sara, a sexual health worker who played a vital role in getting abused girls’ voices heard by persistently reporting cases of child abuse as a sexual health worker, has told ROCHDALE ONLINE that Mr Lloyd has her '100% support'.

Sara told Rochdale Online: "Tony Lloyd has my 100% support as Labour's candidate for Rochdale.

Curiously, this follows on the heels of a tweet by Maggie Oliver, another key figure in exposure of the story of the 'Three Girls' docu-drama, who over the weekend circulated a message attacking Tony Lloyd as unhelpful:

Sara Rowbotham said of prospective Labour parliamentary candidate Tony Lloyd:
'He has lots of experience and ability and will make a first class MP for the town.  Tony is just what Rochdale needs.  During his time as Greater Manchester's Interim Mayor he worked very closely with lots of community organisations.  He is well known throughout town.  Tony will work with everyone to build what is best about Rochdale and its people.'

Sara added:
'Tony will fight the disastrous Tory cuts to our local schools which will mean bigger class sizes and teachers facing the sack. Tony will be the strong and experienced voice Rochdale needs right now.'

Where have we heard that before?   Labour councillors like Sara Rowbotham have been fighting Tory cuts for years while implementing Tory cuts at the same time.  Meanwhile, didn't Sara vote against the
proposed increase in councillors' allowances on the 14th, December last year..  As ROCHDALE ONLINE reported at the time:
'The proposal to increase councillors' allowances by a massive 34%, and Council Leader Richard Farnell's allowances by a whopping 51%, has been met with public outrage and a protest has been organised outside the Town Hall....'

Despite all the crocodile tears about 'Tory cuts' talked about by Labour Party councillors like Sara Rowbotham she was loyal to the Labour whip imposed by her council leader, Richard Farnell. 

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Petition in favour of 'Three Girls' campaigner

MORE than 120,000 people have signed a petition calling for the sexual health worker who advocated for the victims of grooming in Rochdale to be recognised for her work.
The petition asks for acknowledgment of the work of Sara Rowbotham, the sexual health worker played by Maxine Peake in the BBC drama Three Girls, which aired last week and depicted the abuse of girls in Rochdale and their struggle to be taken seriously by authorities.

Three Girls review – a brave new focus on the Rochdale child sexual abuse scandal

By concentrating on the victims rather than the abusers, this powerful drama does what the Rochdale investigation initially failed to do

Rowbotham was the coordinator of Rochdale’s crisis intervention team from 2003 to 2014 and worked with many of the girls who were victims of the Rochdale grooming scandal. She repeatedly raised concerns about vulnerable girls in the community to police and other authorities, which were dismissed.
She worked for a specialist sexual health service in the city and wrote in the Guardian earlier this month that if that service had not been available 'half the evidence that led to mass convictions would never have come to light'.  She added:  'The girls didn’t trust police or social services to help them and I quickly found out why they felt this way, as no one wanted to listen to them.'

For more:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/21/petition-calls-for-recognition-of-rochdale-sexual-health-