A growing rebellion of Liverpool Labour councillors could be on their way to becoming the city's official opposition.
The ECHO has been told that six current city Labour councillors will break the party whip and vote against their own group's budget proposals at a crunch meeting on Wednesday.
Those councillors are Alan Gibbons, Alison Clarke, Alfie Hincks, Rona Heron, Joanne Calvert and Lindsay Melia.
All six are unhappy with the planned budget, which includes new charges for green bins in the city, a maximum Council Tax rise of 2.99% and cuts to social care budgets.
READ MORE: These are the Liverpool Labour councillors set to vote against their party and face being kicked out
They say they are prepared to face 'severe disciplinary action' from Labour if they vote against the key budget motion - which could see them kicked out of the party altogether.
If all six were to lose the Labour whip, they would join three former Labour councillors Sam Gorst, Anna Rothery and Sarah Morton in sitting as independents.
The ECHO understands there could be a move for such an independent group to band together as an alternative party on the council.
If this were to happen, the grouping would need a further four members to overtake the 12 Liberal Democrat councillors and become the official opposition to Labour.
The ECHO understands there are other Labour councillors within the group currently considering their positions, who could vote against the budget and then join the rebels.
In a statement released to the ECHO earlier today, five of the Labour councillors planning to vote against their party's budget said 'we will not vote for cuts.'
The statement said: "As a matter of personal conscience and political judgement, we have come to the decision that we have no choice but to vote against this year’s Liverpool City Council budget on March 2.
"We have supported attempts to draw up proposals that would amount to a no-cuts alternative. All these efforts have been rejected. The main elements of the budget are largely unchanged since the beginning of the consultation process."
They added: "We are prepared to accept the consequences of our decision. We were not elected to make life harder for the people we represent."
One of the Labour councillors set to vote against the budget is Joanne Calvert, the daughter of former Mayor Joe Anderson.
And he signalled his agreement with the move in a tweet today, stating: "Well done to Labour Councillors in Liverpool who refuse to vote for a budget that increases reserves by £10 million without a legal requirement and at the same time sees cuts to social care and communities and the introduction of a green waste fee that will hurt the poorest in City."
Mr Anderson stepped down from his position after he was arrested in a corruption probe in December 2020. He has not been charged and denies wrongdoing.
The Labour group will meet tonight for what could be a highly charged meeting ahead of the crunch budget vote on Wednesday evening.
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