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A councillor collapsed and an ambulance was called after she was "verbally attacked" during a meeting of a Labour group hit by allegations of “bullying”, it has emerged.

The incident has emerged in a private resignation email sent to Cardiff’s Labour group members by former group secretary Sue White, who resigned as a councillor last week.

Ms White alleged there was a “culture of bullying” in her resignation statement last week.

But her email to fellow Labour members, which has been leaked to us, goes further.

She claims an ambulance had to be called after the elderly councillor became ill after being verbally abused in a meeting.

She has also alleged that she was put under pressure to change an account of a disciplinary hearing and was left furious after being asked to make changes to minutes of a Cardiff Labour group meeting.

The full text of the email

In her email Ms White says: “It was with very real regret that I decided to resign as councillor for Llandaff North and I feel I owe you an explanation.

“My disillusionment with the Cardiff Labour Group began soon after joining.

"Members might remember me saying that the behaviour was the worst I had experienced in my entire working life. Little or no notice was taken of my statement.

“The culture of bullying appeared to be long established with no decisive action by the leader, chief whip or chair.

"The severity of the bullying can be judged by the incident when an ambulance had to be called when one member collapsed after being verbally attacked.

"To my knowledge, her complaint still has not been resolved to her satisfaction.

“I was not subjected to any personal bullying until I was encouraged by cabinet members to stand as secretary.

"I was elected and then subjected to continual questioning about the accuracy of the minutes and my ability to take notes.

(Image: Mirrorpix)

"I made a complaint to the chief whip about the offensive comments made by one member but that has never been acted on. There was never any robust defence of my work.

“I believe that the people who stand by and do nothing about bullying are as guilty as those directly involved.

“In addition to the obvious abuse I received, I was also under pressure from the leadership to amend minutes.

"On one occasion the chief whip [Garry Hunt] came to my house at 9.30pm to ask me to change my account of a disciplinary meeting.

"I refused and I was determined to continue producing what I believed to be an accurate record.

“I was furious, and almost resigned as secretary, when Phil [Bale] posted a draft copy of minutes through my door with ‘corrections’ marked in red.

"I told him I would never have treated any of my students in such a way (I taught and examined post graduate exams in practical journalism).

"I also experienced real difficulty in getting information for agendas in time to send them out. There are more points I can make but I want to keep this short.”

Ms White goes on to state: “I think anyone with any emotional intelligence would have seen my disillusionment and I expressed it to other members and to cabinet members.

"It is an understatement to say I felt there was little or no concern from the leadership about my wellbeing.

“However,I would like to thank the few members who showed some concern, especially Elaine Simmons for her genuine warmth and kindness, also Monica for her support.

"I had no faith that the Group’s behaviour would ever improve.”

'Big rows'

A Labour councillor, who did not wish to be named, also waded into the dispute.

He said there had previously been “big rows” among Labour members over the alleged accuracy of the minutes.

And he cited one incident, in particular.

The councillor said: “There have been big rows in the group about the minutes.

“About 18 months ago – it now seems after they were altered at the behest of the group leadership – the minutes of one group meeting said members had agreed on a particular council tax rise which many of us were sure had not happened.

“We were then told by the whip to vote for the increase. These are very serious allegations and show how dysfunctional the group has become.”

Cardiff Labour's response

Responding to Ms White’s comments about an ambulance being called to a Labour group meeting after a member was taken ill after being verbally attacked, the group spokesman said: “Two years ago an incident was reported to the chief whip. It was investigated and no action deemed necessary”

In reference to the allegation about minutes being changed, he said: “This is completely untrue as all minutes are agreed by the group taking a vote.

"All group members are entitled to suggest amendments to minutes and they often do.”