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A confidential report leaked to the ECHO detailed a Labour party investigation into allegations of abuse and intimidation at the Wallasey Constituency Labour Party (CLP).

It claims that Angela Eagle MP was subject to homophobic abuse.

Although the claims have always been strongly denied by some party members, the report calls for the local party to remain suspended until next year.

Here are the key findings from the report.

Homophobic abuse

The confidential report on the investigation into Wallasey Constituency Labour Party says: “The investigation has found that some members have truthfully claimed that homophobic instances occurred during the AGM. Others truthfully said that they were not aware of those instances.

“It is possible for the events to have occurred without the knowledge of all members. The allegations are not that the CLP is institutionally homophobic or that members were aware of homophobia but took no action, but are specific to individuals. These allegations will be reported to the Disputes Panel regarding individual disciplinary action.”

The ‘brick’ incident

According to the report, the attack on the MP’s constituency office in Liscard was also “highly likely” to be connected to her challenge against Jeremy Corbyn for Labour’s leadership.

The report said: “It’s highly likely that the brick thrown through the window of Angela Eagle’s office was related to her leadership challenge. The position of the window made it very unlikely that this was a random passer-by.” It said that claims it could have been targeting another company and Ms Eagle was “lying” about being targeted are “categorically untrue”.

A ‘toxic culture’

The report also found that “over the summer there has been a high level of inter-member abuse in Wallasey”. The confidential report said it had “resulted in genuine fear and intimidation of a small number of other members” with some “fearful to take part in the Party or raise their voice about any issue, as they see that those that do are subject to abuse”. It concludes: “This culture is toxic and it is self-perpetuating.”

Physical threats to party members

At ONE key meeting of the local party, the report said: “Some reported that tensions were raised and the atmosphere was febrile and increasingly frightening. It has been reported by several respondents that one member loudly threatened physical violence to another member during this period. Whilst it is unlikely that this threat would have been carried through, this created a frightening atmosphere, particularly for the older and younger members, who felt vulnerable.”

Deselecting councillors

According to the investigation report, “a small, but vociferous, group of new Labour members have engaged in a campaign against the Labour council, and have called for the deselection of any councillors who refuse to set illegal budgets”.

Abuse

The report added: “The office of Angela Eagle has endured a significant amount of abuse, including abusive and intimidating phone calls. The investigation has received many hundreds of abusive, homophobic, and frightening messages that have been sent by Labour members to Angela Eagle.”

The future

The report concludes: “The current atmosphere in the CLP is toxic and divided in the extreme. It is not possible for the CLP to safely meet in the current climate, and the Party should support them to move forward.”

The ECHO attempted to contact a Wallasey Labour party official for comment last night, but they were unavailable.