The Labour Party is today speaking with all its councillors in Liverpool who were named in a Liverpool Echo parking fines investigation.
Last week, following a 16-month investigation, the ECHO named 14 current and former elected Labour members in the city who had parking fines rescinded by officers over a five year period, without going through the proper processes. The council's current interim chief executive Theresa Grant said our revelations uncovered an "unacceptable culture" at the city council at the time.
Those named in our investigation were all either current or former elected Labour members. Eight are current serving Labour councillors on the city council.
READ MORE: 14 Liverpool politicians named in council parking probe and their explanations
The ECHO understands that Labour officials will meet with all those current Labour councillors throughout the day today to ask them further questions about the investigation and the explanations they provided for having parking fines rescinded.
Those spoken to will include former deputy mayor Cllr Ann O'Byrne, who had 17 tickets rescinded by officers between 2015 and 2022, as well as former cabinet members Barry Kushner and Nick Small - who had seven and five tickets cancelled respectively.
Others to be spoken to by the party will include Sharon Connor, Wendy Simon, Lynnie Hinnigan and Joe Hanson, who all had one parking fine rescinded during the same period.
Current Labour councillor Gerard Woodhouse - who was named as having five tickets cancelled - had already been separately barred from standing for the party again before our investigation was published. Today he announced his intention to stand as an independent candidate in the County ward he has represented since 2010.
Two former Labour councillors who quit the party last year to join the breakaway Liverpool Community Independents group were also named in our parking investigation. The group's leader, Cllr Anna Rothery had one fine cancelled and has since been suspended by her group pending ongoing investigations. Cllr Joanne Calvert has quit the group after being named as having three tickets chalked off.
The ECHO understands that the conversations between party officials and those Labour councillors named in our investigation will take place throughout the day and possibly into the evening. It is expected that the party will say more once the interviews are complete.
The news comes after opposition parties have ramped up the pressure on Labour in the days following the parking fine revelations. Cllr Alan Gibbons, the deputy leader of the Community Independents penned an open letter to the Labour Party calling for action.
He wrote: "Liverpool Labour risks degenerating into a self-serving electoral sect whose only purpose is to perpetuate its shambolic rule. We call on you to demonstrate integrity and follow our example."
Both Cllr Gibbons and Liberal Democrat leader Richard Kemp have submitted a number of questions to the city council asking for further information following on from our investigation.
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