Is Rochdale Labour Party 'a disfunctional bubble'?

NV Editor:   Last week the Rochdale Labour councillor, Kathleen Nickson, defected to the local Liberal Democrats claiming that she had suffered bullying in the Labour Party under its current leader Cllr. Allen Brett.  Cllr. Brett doesn't recognise her account, but he has just been subject to a disciplinary inquiry over his own conduct.  Meanwhile, his Labour Party colleagues have taken to recording what he says at private meetings of the Labour group.  In the story below The Guardian reporter quotes a solicitor as accusing the party of Cllr. Brett of existing 'in its own dysfunctional bubble' and having 'a problem at the political leadership level'.  That was last April almost a year ago, but since then things haven't got any better with one councillor, Faisal Rana, having been cautioned by the police for the electoral fraud of multiple voting.  

Read Tony Lloyd MP for Rochdale on electoral fraud:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWmHpSqdzNE 

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ON the 15th, April 2018, The Guardian journalist, Josh Halliday, reported:  'Rochdale's "toxic" political leadership must be overhauled for the town to move on from decades of institutional failure on child sexual abuse, the lead solicitor for victims at the official inquiry has said.'

A solicitor Richard Scorer, who was representing victims at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IISCA), said Labour had allowed Rochdale’s political leaders to act in a “dysfunctional bubble”.  And he added:  “If Rochdale is going to be able to move forward there has to be changes at the political leadership level,”.

That was when Richard Farnell, the former leader of Rochdale Councill, had just been accused of lying under oath.

According to The Guardian story, Farnell was branded “shameless” for his refusal to take personal responsibility for the abuse, which happened during his first stint as town hall leader between 1986 and 1992.

This former Labour council leader, Farnell, who was recently suspended by the Labour party amid a possible police investigation into perjury, has denied lying to the inquiry and insisted he was not informed about abuse at Knowl View during his time as leader.
  
The Guardians journalist, Josh Halliday, then reported:
'However, Farnell’s successor, the former deputy leader, Allen Brett, has also been criticised by some fellow Labour councillors for representing “no change” to the political regime. His appointment triggered the resignation of Donna Martin, the deputy leader, and two councillors from the town hall cabinet.
'Brett, a long-serving councillor who has held a number of senior positions on Rochdale council, previously backed Farnell over his evidence to the IICSA.
'Speaking after his appointment in December, he said people “should believe what has been said” by Farnell and that he hoped the inquiry would show that “what Richard said was true”.'

But at that time Brett refused to discuss the Rochdale abuse inquiry, or say whether he stood by his remarks on Farnell, when contacted by The Guardian.

In a press release at that time, Brett said he realised 'it was wrong of me to pre-empty [sic?] the inquiry'.   He said Farnell “should now personally reflect on the report” and apologised to victims who had been 'let down by people who should have been protecting you'.

But the solicitor Mr. Scorer said Brett’s pre-empting of the inquiry, as well as the fact Farnell stayed in post for two months after his much-criticised evidence, 'confirms the problem of the political culture' in Rochdale.

Solicitor Scorer then tried to describe the culture of Rochdalian politics up to that date in April 2018:
'In the very recent past the social services and education teams have tried to make improvements but I think what’s apparent from this report is that Rochdale still has a very toxic culture among its political leadership,
'Labour are now the controlling party.  They’ve allowed Rochdale to operate in its own dysfunctional bubble and that now needs to come to an end. They still have a problem at the political leadership level.'

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