WHAT on earth is happening with the Labour Party in Warrington, I wonder.

Let’s go back to February when seven MPs quit the party amid allegations of bullying and anti-Semitism.

That prompted Labour borough councillor Tony Higgins to reveal he has faced bullying since being elected to the Fairfield and Howley seat in 2010.

Cllr Higgins, executive board member for leisure and community, said: “I am shocked and saddened that anyone feels bullied and intimidated simply for their cultural heritage – Luciana Berger is quite right to feel the way she does.

“Unfortunately, I know what it’s like to feel bullied, I have experienced bullying.”

He didn’t expand on why he was bullied or what form the bullying took, but nevertheless, it’s a pretty shocking and damning accusation for a Labour councillor to make.

A couple of months later and Dan Price became the second council cabinet member to deliver his bombshell when he resigned from the Labour Party after claiming members have been ‘betrayed’ by leader Jeremy Corbyn over Brexit.

Mr Price said he could no longer campaign for a party ‘that is helping the Tories deliver Brexit’.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Mr Price joined forces with Change UK to unsuccessfully fight in the European Parliament elections.

Last month, Penketh councillor David Keane, another of the Warrington Labour’s big hitters, announced he wouldn’t be standing in next year’s council elections to concentrate on his bid to be re-elected Police and Crime Commissioner but a matter of days later, Penketh parish councillor Andy Heaver quit Labour and launched a stinging attack Mr Keane and fellow Penketh Labour borough councillor Linda Dirir.

Then, and perhaps most surprisingly, two more senior Labour borough councillors bit the dust when they were deselected from contesting next year’s all-out elections.

Hitesh Patel (Great Sankey South), cabinet member for transformation, and Judith Guthrie (Westbrook), cabinet member for environment and public protection, were in effect fired, along with Poplars and Hulme councillor and chief whip Brian Maher.

Add to that, Cllr Jean Carter, former portfolio holder for education, who was deselected from Great Sankey South but somehow manages to be a candidate in Great Sankey North and Whittle Hall.

Which brings us neatly to last week when Birchwood town councillor Ian Atkin resigned from the Labour Party.

Mr Atkin said: “It has been hard to stay a member this long, in the face of national leadership seemingly happy to embrace anti-Semites and communists while ignoring the party policy, agreed at conference, in relation to Brexit.”

Warrington Labour doesn’t look like a happy ship at the moment. If any Labour insider would care to enlighten me about what on earth is going on, I’d be delighted to find out.

n LAST week I wrote about ‘zombie pedestrians’, those careless, thoughtless people who are more interested in staring at their phones than taking any notice of the cars that are about to knock them down.

Now occasionally I have been known to use a little ‘poetic licence’ when writing this column but I can assure you that story was completely true.

Fast forward to last Friday and there I was making the same journey from the town centre towards Penketh, but this time I had my wife in the car with me. I was regaling her with my ‘three zombie pedestrians’ tale and to be honest, I’m not sure she completely believed me.

And then you guessed it, a bloke with his eyes glued to his phone stepped out in front of me as I was crossing Bridge Street.

You couldn’t make it up.