Labour suspends party in Doncaster

The district Labour Party in Doncaster, which has been the subject of allegations of property deals, abuse of foreign trips and drunken behaviour, was suspended yesterday.

The regional party will now take over the shortlisting of candidates for next year's May elections and the Labour leadership is clearly hoping to limit the damage before local voters go to the polls.

The suspension, by a meeting of Labour's National Executive Committee yesterday, leaves the threat of expulsion hanging over those involved. The Prime Minister said: "If the allegations are found to be untrue fair enough, but if they are found to be true, then disciplinary action will follow."

John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, said swift action had been taken, and he underlined Labour's determination not to be tarred with the sleaze brush which damaged the Tories. "We have suspended members from office. We have suspended them from the party. Whether it is an MP or a councillor, you can see that the Labour Party has acted extremely fast on these matters and compares quite vividly with the Tory party over Westminster," he said.

"We act immediately. We make it absolutely clear we will not tolerate it and they will face suspension, they will face a number of sanctions, if they are involved in any way and if these allegations are substantiated.

"What we do want to see, whether it is new Labour or old Labour, is a party that keeps trust with its people, carries out what it promises and does it in an honest and an open way. If anybody transgresses that particular rule, what we say is we will act very quickly indeed."

Doncaster police said last night that they were involved in the on-going inquiry into allegations of corruption, disclosed in The Independent. Senior members of the Labour-run council ignored the advice of their own officers to allow property developers to build private housing estates on acres of rolling countryside which were in protected areas. They also allowed more houses to be built than recommended in other areas.

The town is famous for the council-owned Doncaster racecourse, and it was alleged that some councillors had drunken parties at the course. The police and the district auditor are also investigating reports of abuse of foreign trips and hospitality budgets.

Four members of the council - the planning chairman, Peter Birks; former council leader and deputy leader, Peter Welsh; former mayor Ray Stockhill, and John Quinn - have been suspended by the party following the disclosures in The Independent and a damning report by the district auditor.

Colin Wedd, deputy leader of Doncaster Council, said: "The Labour Party is clear in its resolve to deal with issues facing us and I welcome the national party's decision to give the new leadership in Doncaster support on this matter."