A CHESHIRE West councillor who quit the Labour Party after claiming she was bullied over her stance on women's safety and transgender issues, has again hit out after her efforts to bring a debate on women's rights at full council were blocked.

Independent councillor Mandy Clare, who represents Winsford Dene, had wanted to table an emergency motion at a meeting of full council last Thursday, for a discussion on ‘women’s rights, free speech and respectful debate’.

The move followed an alleged recent incident in Manchester involving a feminist and tran-rights activists, in which the victim claimed she was assaulted by people in balaclavas next to a statue of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.

Cllr Clare quit the Labour party in March amid accusations of bullying – a claim strongly denied by Cheshire West and Chester Council's ruling Labour administration.

She was also a member of Labour’s National Women’s Committee but resigned on International Women’s Day, claiming she had been bullied and prevented from speaking out about women’s rights and from raising concerns about ‘serial abuse’.

She has previously been a vocal critic of what she deemed the ‘erosion of ‘sex-based rights’. She said her efforts to table the emergency motion were thwarted.

She said: “The motion makes the point that this attack - which was caught on camera and happened with a police presence nearby - resulted in the assaulted woman being advised by police and asked to move on, marking a significant and worrying escalation of male public aggression and police complacency toward women."

Cllr Clare added “I don’t know how this most recent event doesn’t qualify as urgent enough and wonder if the rules within the constitution have been applied appropriately."

But a spokesperson for Cheshire West Labour denied this was the case and said Cllr Clare had 'misrepresented' the reasons she was given at the time for the motion being denied.

The spokesman said: "Cllr Clare's motion was submitted after the publication of the agenda.

"For late motions to be considered, the topics they address must be newly arising under the council's procedure rules.

"The topics addressed in the motion were not newly arising, and the motion was ruled out of order based on the legal advice of the director of governance.

"It is disappointing that Cllr Clare has misrepresented the reasons communicated to her for the motion being ruled out of order. All councillors are aware of the process and rules relating to the submission of motions.

"To facilitate and protect legitimate debate, the rules must be applied fairly to all councillors, including Cllr Clare."