Labour leader did NOT breach code of conduct when she told opposition 'I will be on that bulldozer... and it will be rammed down your throat'

A town hall’s legal chief says that Tameside’s council leader did not breach the code of conduct when she said a controversial garden village scheme would be ‘rammed down’ the throat of opponents.

At a full council meeting on Tuesday night, Labour leader Brenda Warrington hit back at the ‘Brenda the Bulldozer’ nickname given to her by the Tory opposition over the Godley Green project.

The scheme, which has been submitted for planning approval by the authority, would see 2,150 homes as well as local centres, retail and commercial sites developed on green belt land in Hyde.

During the budget meeting Coun Warrington said: “Godley Green, I make no mistake, I will be on that first bulldozer and that is a promise.

“I will be on that bulldozer that actually starts to dig up ready to build houses on Godley Green and believe me it will be rammed down your throat.

“It really will.”

Following the meeting her comments outraged residents opposed to the garden village project, which has garnered more than 3,400 objections.

A number of people subsequently submitted complaints to the council over Coun Warrington’s use of language, arguing she had breached councillors’ code of conduct.

One resident’s complaint stated that her behaviour was ‘not befitting of a local councillor’ and during the meeting she had acted in an ‘insensitive and damaging way’.

However Sandra Stewart, Tameside’s head of governance and pensions, who is also the borough’s solicitor and statutory monitoring officer, has ruled there is no case to answer.

“Councillors should be able to express their opinions and concerns in forceful terms,” she stated in her written response.

“The code is not intended to stifle the expressions of passion and frustration that often