A veteran Labour councillor has quit his party after almost 50 years after whistleblowing to party chiefs about a WhatsApp group where racist, sexist and homophobic jokes were made.
Vincent Ricci, 67, was suspended by Labour for being a member of the so-called Trigger Me Timbers group, featuring key Labour figures in the North-West.
The Mail on Sunday’s revelations about the exchanges involving Labour figures Greater Manchester led to health minister Andrew Gwynne being sacked in February.
Mr Ricci’s suspension came even though he raised concerns about the group to senior Labour officials before quitting the group in disgust in 2022.
The councillor was finally cleared of any wrongdoing earlier this month, and was told by party bosses in a letter that he was exonerated completely.
But the letter reprimanded Mr Ricci for giving an interview to BBC North-West days after his suspension, where he said he had done nothing wrong.
The MoS revealed how Mr Gwynne and other Labour party figures joked that a pensioner should ‘croak it’ because she complained about her bins.
They also made sexist jokes about Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner as well as anti-Semitic comments about a person’s name being ‘too Jewish.’
Vincent Ricci, 67, (pictured) was suspended by Labour for being a member of the so-called Trigger Me Timbers group, featuring key Labour figures in the North-West
The Mail on Sunday’s revelations about the exchanges involving Labour figures Greater Manchester led to health minister Andrew Gwynne (pictured) being sacked in February
Mr Gwynne was sacked by Number 10 within hours of the MoS contacting the Prime Minister’s office for comment.
Oliver Ryan, the Labour MP for Burnley who was also a member of the group, was suspended by the party, along with at least 11 Labour councillors in Greater Manchester.
While Mr Ricci was cleared, the Labour party issued a statement saying he, along with two other councillors, had been brought back to the party with ‘a written warning.’
But the veteran politician asked Labour to clarify he had not engaged in any of the offensive exchanges, but was warned because he had given a BBC interview. But party officials refused to issue a new statement, not allowed him to talk to the media.
The long-serving councillor said he feels he has been ‘thrown under a bus’ by Labour because, without the clarification he asked for, locals still suspect he was involved in the ‘jokes’ which led to Mr Gwynne’s dismissal.
Last week, Mr Ricci handed his resignation to Labour, after being a member of the party for 47 years.
He said: ‘Labour have thrown me under a bus, I’ve never done anything wrong. I am disgusted they have put me part of this racist, misogynist, homophobic group. For that reason I have resigned from the Labour party.’
Earlier this month, after a six-month-long investigation, Mr Ryan was reinstated to the Labour party, alongside most of the suspended councillors. But Mr Gwynne remains suspended from the party as his investigation continues.
Oliver Ryan, (pictured) the Labour MP for Burnley who was also a member of the group, was suspended by the party, along with at least 11 Labour councillors in Greater Manchester
Although Mr Ricci was a member of Trigger Me Timbers, he left the group in April 2022, having raised concerns about some of the messages to senior party figures.
But Labour did not investigate the group at the time.
Mr Ricci said he will carry on serving residents in his ward of Denton North-East as an independent councillor.
He said he endured verbal abuse on the street and on social media during the Labour investigation as people falsely accused him of posting abusive messages on Trigger Me Timber.
He said: ‘I was called scumbag. One person said by email: ‘I know you are a corrupt man. You are part of a group where corrupt activities took place.’
‘I was concerned about my wife, as she was being asked questions in the supermarket.’
But since he resigned from Labour, he has been receiving messages of support from residents.
