Council leader accuses Conservative activists of 'disgraceful' slurs which left colleagues in tears

The leader of Bury Council has accused some Conservatives opponents of ‘outrageous and disgraceful’ slurs about some of his colleagues .

Coun Eamonn O’Brien claimed on election day on May 5 and the campaign that preceded it some Labour candidates were called ‘corrupt’ and ‘paedophiles’ by Conservative activists, leaving some in tears. During his speech to the council’s annual general meeting Coun O’Brien said he would ‘not accept’ a continuation of such behaviour and that he had evidence to support his claims.

He said: “There is a darker side to politics and sadly on too many occasions in this campaign and especially on election day those darker sides were on display. Without getting into all of the detail i take very seriously my responsibility to my members, their well-being but also the democratic process in Bury.

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“I have to say there some quite outrageous and disgraceful examples and sets of behaviour – sadly from the Conservative group opposite. Not in their entirety but very much part of their campaign. I think people know me by now I am not a partisan political hack, I’m not hysterical when it comes to party politics.

“But when I have members of my group on a regular basis calling me in tears about what they have experienced, showing me examples of what is being said about them by text message and on social media ranging from corruption, ranging from paedophilia, I take that as a line that should not be crossed.

“I will say it directly to the group opposite, I’m not saying anyone in particular has done anything at this stage, but I will not accept anything like that continuing in our borough. I want to make sure