Racism row Greens slam Labour decision to restore party whip to suspended councillor

BRISTOL Labour councillor suspended from the party after he made a comment on Facebook that sparked complaints of racism has been restored to the party, prompting fury from opponents at City Hall.

- Tristancork

Bristol's Labour Group said a council investigation into the comment, from Cllr Fabian Breckels, pictured inset right, deemed ‘no further action’ should be taken, and have restored the party whip to the veteran councillor.

Cllr Breckels will be a Labour councillor again after a month spent as an independent, but won't return to his position as chair of the licensing committee at City Hall, or as the Labour nomination to the Board of Trustees of We The Curious. The Labour group at City Hall said Cllr Breckels had also agreed to undertake some equalities training.

Green Party opponents, who first called out the comment a month ago and demanded Cllr Breckels’ resignation, said the decision to reinstate Cllr Breckels meant it was ‘now totally clear what kind of a party Labour are’, and again called on him to resign.