'Labour have thrown me under the bus', suspended councillor says as WhatsApp crisis deepens

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A councillor has claimed he has been 'thrown under the bus' by the Labour Party after he was suspended over his membership of the Trigger Me Timbers WhatsApp group.

Vincent Ricci claims he raised concerns with party chiefs about the group more than two years ago. Last weekend Andrew Gwynne, MP for Gorton and Denton, was sacked as a health minister after allegedly posting offensive remarks in the chat.

Mr Gwynne later apologised for his 'badly misjudged comments'. Coun Ricci is one of 12 councillors from Tameside and Stockport suspended by Labour amid an investigation into the WhatsApp group.

Burnley MP Oliver Ryan, a former Tameisde councillor, has also been suspended. Coun Ricci told BBC Northwest Tonight: "I'm so annoyed and frustrated at the Labour Party because it won't listen to me. "I've told it I've got no input whatsoever and its response is 'well that's okay then, you'll be completely exonerated', which I will be, 100 per cent.