City Council after having been arrested on suspicion of the common assault of his 16-year-old stepdaughter. He was released after accepting a police caution and admitting striking his stepdaughter across the face. On 7 March 2017, it was reported that City Centre councillor Kevin Peel had been suspended from the Manchester Labour group after reports of bullying. He sat as an independent, still taking the Labour Group whip until he rejoined Labour. He did not stand in the following election. On 12 February 2019, an 'enormous political row' erupted after Manchester Council announced it was consulting the public on a new Public Spare Protection Order which, among other things, targeted 'aggressive' begging and rough sleepers who pitch tents or sleep in doorways. The council's opposition leader, and former Lib Dem MP John Leech sparked further controversy when he tweeted that the potential council policy which was still out for public consultation was "absolute crap". On 8 March 2019, at a routine council budget meeting, a row erupted before proceedings began. The argument was prompted by a sign put up by Labour above the Lord Mayor's chair at the front of the council chamber, reading '10 Years of Tory And Lib Dem Cuts'. When Leech, the Lib Dem leader, entered the chamber, he took down the message – prompting senior Labour councillor Pat Karney to 'thunder' across the chamber. He began 'screaming' and 'shouting' at Leech, and told him to hand over the laminated A4 pieces of paper at least 11 times. On 15 April 2019, The Times uncovered a number of offensive tweets from Fallowfield Labour councillor Jade Doswell. Doswell had tweeted that she was a "little bit sick in my mouth" at the sight of an Israeli flag and claimed the flag was 'offensive' and provocative’. She apologised on a private Facebook post. On 25 July 2019, it was reported that Majid Dar had shared Facebook comparing justifications made by the Nazis for the slaughter of Jews during the Holocaust with those made by Israel's army for its actions in Gaza. Another post stated that Zionism 'keeps changing direction like a snake', whilst replies to one of his other comments included 'Kill all the Jews PERIOD' and 'Israel needs to stop existing'. On 18 March 2020, Greg Stanton stood down from the Liberal Democrats to sit as an Independent councillor. Although Stanton cited his reasons for leaving as "because