LABOUR councillors stormed out of a debate on hate crime after Conservative opponents claimed the party has "an element of anti-Semitism and extremism".

Cllr Jackie Harris made the remarks at last week's council meeting, referring to national news stories rather than anyone in the Bury party, while introducing a seemingly uncontroversial motion calling on the council to condemn hate crime.

Her comments prompted the entire Labour group to walk out of the chamber and the mayor, Cllr Stella Smith, to stop her from speaking on the grounds that her speech had nothing to do with the motion or with Bury.

Cllr Mike Connolly, the Labour leader, said he had "never heard anything so disgusting in my entire life", while Cllr Rishi Shori, his deputy, described the remarks as "politics of the gutter".

Bury Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Tim Pickstone added: "I'm ashamed of what has happened in this council chamber because hate crime is too important an issue to be having a party political debate about."

Seconding the original motion, Cllr Khalid Hussain said: "Cllr Harris has made some serious points that need to be taken into account.

"If any elected representative of any persuasion has made these comments, they are disgusting.

"We in Bury must have a zero tolerance policy towards any hate crimes."

After the debate resumed following a five minute recess, Cllr Tamoor Tariq, the council's lead on community safety, told the chamber: "People have to remember that hate crimes can have a devastating impact on people's lives and, in some circumstances, can put lives at risk.

"We need to remember the consequences of hate crime before we have this debate.

"In Bury, we have had the lowest number of hate crimes in Greater Manchester over the last year, with 236.

"These issues are very serious we have made great progress in the last 12 months."

In her closing remarks, Cllr Harris responded to the criticism by saying: "I was quoting news stories, not giving my own views. It wasn't directed at anyone in this chamber and I think it would have been fair to allow me to finish saying what I had to say.

"If you can present evidence that what I said is not true, then I would listen, not walk out and shout you down."