Council rebel loses whip
A REBEL South Yorkshire councillor dubbed the 'People's Champion' after criticising council spending on lavish functions has had the Labour party whip withdrawn.
Outspoken Peter Thirlwall, aged 62, a member of Rotherham Council for six years, has been involved in a row with party bosses for months.
Now it has been revealed the Wickersley councillor - a Labour supporter for 30 years and twice nearly selected as a parliamentary candidate - has had the whip withdrawn for six months by the council's ruling Labour group.
It claims the rebel councillor is guilty of bullying, breaching party rules and contravening the group's standing orders.
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Coun Thirlwall is alleged to have 'bullied' another councillor during a debate over a controversial traffic scheme at Bramley, and to have blown the whistle on the council's lavish spending on awards ceremonies.
He claimed the council had spent more than 28,000 in just six months attending 11 separate ceremonies - one alone costing 7,000 - at a time when it was cutting spending on care for the elderly.
But Coun Thirlwall said his comments on council junkets had struck a chord with local people and he had received massive backing.
Today he said he would be appealing to the Regional Labour Party against his suspension - and claimed the party had broken the rules by not giving him a fair hearing.
He also said if he lost his appeal, he would remain an Independent councillor and as a member of the Labour Party.
"Local party officials have broken the rules by not referring this matter to Labour's Local Government Committee and because of this I walked out of the meeting called to consider my case," he said.
"I will be appealing against the decision and if I lose then I will stay on as an Independent until my term of office is up. I will also remain a member of the Labour Party.
"I still stand by what I said about council spending and know that people agree with what I said. I have had hundreds of letters and e-mails from people supporting me. "
Local party secretary Reg Littleboy said: "Before they become a candidate for election all Labour members agree in writing to accept the party's rules. The rules are applied equally to all candidates and - if they are elected - to all Labour councillors."
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