A FORMER Harlow Labour councillor, whose resignation sparked a by-election, has hit back at the chair of Harlow Labour Party’s claims that no-one brought up concerns regarding the direction of the local party.

Ian Beckett said: “Charlie Cochrane, for whom I have enormous respect, is quite simply wrong when he says no one has brought concerns to him.

“In the spirit of unity, before any resignations, which were both avoidable and predictable if concerns went unaddressed, I sent the first of a number of communications to the chair.

My text message said: “Charlie, it is my opinion that Harlow Constituency Labour Party (CLP) is on the cusp of a crisis that could split the local party and have huge ramifications for the Labour Group and ultimately our control of the Council. Perhaps this is stating the obvious but I’m texting this in case it’s not.”

It was a beginning of a dialogue, with Charlie and others, a record of which I have kept, that tried fervently to reverse the trend that ultimately was allowed to reach breaking point for myself and others.

“People might be able to fool themselves but they shouldn’t be allowed to try and fool the people of Harlow.