The Middleton councillor now residing in Spain!

Councillor David Murphy threatening David Hennigan in Rochdale Town Hall

The Middleton councillor now residing in Spain returned to Rochdale for last night's (Wednesday 6 February) full council meeting at Rochdale Town Hall.

Councillor David Murphy, who returned to join his wife Ann in Alicante, Spain just after the Middleton North by-election on 29 November, was surprisingly defended by Council Leader Alan Taylor. Councillor Taylor told the meeting: “Councillor Murphy attends the required amount of Council Meetings so I’ve no problem with him.”  He was speaking in response to a request from Councillor William Hobhouse to "prove that he (Councillor Murphy) was still a resident in the Borough".

Councillor Murphy had a sense of humour failure and reacted with anger when Lib Dem Councillor David Clayton, referring to a motion on excess packaging, said: “I would like to praise Councillor Murphy for obviously doing his bit against excess packaging.  I can see he has a rather smart travel bag – unfortunately I don’t do as much travelling as Councillor Murphy!”

Councillor Murphy had already flown into a rage earlier in the evening when he threatened Lib Dem agent David Hennigan for taking photos of him in the Town Hall foyer!

With the controversy over Councillor Murphy's living arrangements showing no signs of abating, Rochdale’s Labour Group leader, Allen Brett, has confirmed that he met with Councillor Murphy last night to discuss his future in the party.

While Councillor Brett recognises Councillor Murphy’s long record of service to Rochdale, he says he has to put constituents first and ensure all councillors set a good example.

“Councillor Murphy has a 27-year record of service to our community and the Labour Group has recognised this with regard to his current situation,” said Councillor Brett. “However, councillors are accountable to the electorate and I will be taking the necessary steps to resolve this matter and act in the best interests of the people in his ward.”

He added that after a succession of Lib Dem scandals in Rochdale, he was determined to ensure that his party offered voters an honest and transparent alternative.

“In recent months we’ve seen the Lib Dems in Rochdale make all the wrong headlines and this is feeding a very cynical political culture, which we have to counter with affirmative action to restore people’s trust in our political system,” he said. “We’ve had a Lib Dem councillor investigated for allegedly showing pornography to a police officer and several high profile Lib Dem sackings.

“I will take no lectures from Lib Dems on Labour representation in Rochdale when you consider the recent record of some of their councillors. We have some very hard working councillors who are doing a great job and I am proud of their record.”