Brick thrown at council candidate’s window next to where his young children were sleeping

Rochdale town centre

Rochdale’s council leader has called for “a less confrontational and aggressive” election after a Labour candidate had a brick thrown at their window.

Councillor Neil Emmott, Labour’s leader of the council, has penned a letter to Rochdale MP George Galloway to try and collaborate on work done with his predecessor Sir Tony Lloyd and calling for calm in the run up to the local elections next month. The letter cited an incident which saw a Labour council candidate have a brick thrown at their home recently, with two young children sleeping beneath the window.

The letter from Councillor Emmott reads: “There are two reasons I am writing to you. First, to urge you to make contact with me or my team so that we might brief you on work we were doing with your predecessor, the late Sir Tony Lloyd, to represent the town’s interests.

“Second, I implore you to do everything in your power to ensure the remainder of this local election campaign is conducted in a less confrontational and aggressive manner than it has been so far. One of our candidates’ homes was attacked last week with a brick which, mercifully, did not break the window beneath which his young children were sleeping. 

“Around the brick was fastened a note that simply read: ‘F*** Labour.’ We can all agree to disagree on certain issues and points, but an attack on any candidates’ home is an attack on democracy itself and we cannot let that stand.”

The letter went on to state that the tone of political debate has become too divisive since the by-election back in February and urged all parties to ask for “no further intimidatory tactics from any quarter” from all of their candidates.

The letter continued: “Since the by-election, the tone of the political debate in our town has become too divisive. A far more civilised and constructive tone is needed to preserve the reputation of Rochdale and the cohesion of its communities. 

“We need our borough’s political leaders to be healers, not wreckers.”

Councillor Emmott added in the letter to the Workers Party leader that he would be approaching every group leader in Rochdale with the same message in an attempt to reduce any escalation of rising tension in the lead up to election day on 2 May.

The Workers Party has been contacted for comment.

George Lythgoe, Local Democracy Reporter