LEAKED: Rochdale Labour Party letter of support for Simon Danczuk

Embattled Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk finally has some good news. His local constituency party have written to Labour Party bosses including Jeremy Corbyn in support of the controversial Rochdale MP. This comes just days after Leader of Rochdale Council, Richard Farnell refused to condemn Mr Danczuk. He was pressed by Councillor Andy Kelly, Rochdale Lib Dem leader, at a recent meeting of Rochdale Council.

Now leaked emails reveal the true scale of support that Mr Danczuk still enjoys amongst former Labour colleagues. Mr Danczuk is under pressure on several fronts. IPSA have announced they will be investigating expense claims linked to his accommodation in London. Greater Manchester Police have promised to act if any evidence of criminality is found. Mr Danczuk is accused of 'falsely claiming' tens of thousands of pounds in allowances. He remains suspended from the Labour Party accused of sending a number of 'inappropriate' text messages to a 17 year old Constituenct who applied for a job.

In a letter - sent to the General Secretary of the Labour Party on 18th January - Council Leader Richard Farnell wrote: "We would like assurances from yourself and the leader of the Labour Party that Mr Danczuk will receive a fair and proper hearing by the Party in respect of the allegations made against him and that any decision will be based entirely on factual evidence. We seek further assurances that statements made by Mr Danczuk regarding the future direction and leadership of the Party will have no bearing whatsoever on the investigation to be carried out."

The full text of the letter can be seen below.

Lib Dem leader Councillor Andy Kelly, who is involved in a war of words with Mr Danczuk, said: "The loyalty of the local Labour party to Mr Danczuk is touching. It is my information though that many members of the Rochdale Labour Party will be surprised at this 'support' A cabal at the top of the local Labour Party are defending the indefensible. It sends the wrong message out to Constituents. Mr Danczuk pretends that he is on the receiving end of smears by supporters of Jeremy Corbyn I'd suggest that this is the least of his problems. Mr Danczuk made thousands of pounds from the media smearing Jeremy Corbyn but Councillor Richard Farnell is quite right. It should have no bearing on any investigations. The real question that Mr Danczuk has to answer is - whether it is appropriate for an MP to send 'lurid' texts to a 17 year old girl asking for a job? Further to this, we hope that the Labour Party take very seriously any misuse of public funds and co-operate fully in ongoing investigations."

<hr/ />

From: David J Finlay -address deleted-
Sent: 18 January 2016 20:40
Subject: FW: Letter of support for Simon Danczuk MP

To:

RCLP GMC Delegates,

At last Friday's RCLP, it was requested that the letter from RCLP Exe be circulated to all RCLP members. See below.

Apologies for any delay, due to difficulties with my internet provider connection.

Yours,

David Finlay

-address deleted-

-phone no deleted-

<hr/ />From: Allan Brett -address deleted-
To: Richard Farnell -address deleted-;
Subject: RE: Letter of support for Simon Danczuk MP
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2016 11:22:01 +0000

PERFECT. Let us send ASAP

Cllr Allen Brett

Labour member for Milnrow & Newhey

Advice Bureau held on the second Saturday of every month, but you can contact me anytime:

-phone no deleted-

From: Councillor Richard Farnell
Sent: 07 January 2016 11:17
To: Councillor Allen Brett J; -address deleted-
Subject: FW: Letter of support for Simon Danczuk MP

Further to the CLP Executive Committee on Monday I said I would draft the letter for David to send to the General secretary re: the investigation into Simon. Here it is ... it needs sending off quickly ...

Richard

ROCHDALE CONSTITUENCY LABOUR PARTY

To The General Secretary of the Labour Party

Cc Jeremy Corbyn MP - Leader of the Labour party

Dear Sir

At the Rochdale Constituency Labour Party's Executive Committee held on Thursday 4 January, your letter regarding the suspension of our Member of Parliament, Simon Danczuk, was read out.

Members went on to express grave concern regarding recent newspaper reports quoting "senior Labour Party sources" that the case was "already proved" and that Mr Danczuk was facing almost certain expulsion from the Party.

Members were extremely anxious regarding these statements. We would like assurances from yourself and the Leader of the Labour Party that Mr Danczuk will receive a fair and proper hearing by the Party in respect of the allegations made against him and that any decision will be based entirely on factual evidence. We seek further assurances that statements made by Mr Danczuk regarding the future direction and leadership of the Party will have no bearing whatsoever on the investigation to be carried out.

Yours sincerely