Labour councillor tweets that she hoped Thatcher had died

Cllr Linda Hobson, a Labour member of Newcastle City Council, has tweeted:

"Just put news on to see Thatcher - for a brief minute I celebrated her death - until reality struck - if only."

Decent people of all political parties will regard this comment as completely unacceptable. Announcing that you wish for your political opponents to die is not a responsible way to conduct affairs in a civilised democracy.

Given that there are around 5,000 Labour councillors, of course, there will be the odd incident where one of them lets down their colleagues. The test for a political party is how they respond. This is where the Labour Party has been weak.

Cllr Florence Anderson of Sunderland said she wanted Margaret Thatcher to burn in hell and Cllr Anderson "liked" a Facebook call for the IRA to bomb the next Conservative Party Conference. There was talk of her being suspended but she is still listed as a Labour councillor. She is still listed as "Chair of the Commuunity and Safer City Scrutiny Committee."

This morning Cllr Hobson is still listed as a Labour councillor. Will she be allowed to remain with the endorsement of the Labour Party? She is a "critical care nurse." I wonder how much time she spends on that and how much of her time she is paid by the taxpayer to be Branch Secretary of Unison's Newcastle Hospitals Branch.