The scandal involving a Green councillor accused of shouting "Nazis" at a group of woman has taken an extraordinary twist with a second councillor now under investigation for an online rant about the case.
Alex Catt faces a disciplinary hearing later this month into messages he posted on X at the height of the 'Nazigate' affair involving fellow Green Norwich City councillor Charlie Caine.
In them, councillor Catt said his Labour opponents - who had raised concerns about his colleague's behaviour - had fuelled "a transphobic hate campaign".
Councillor Caine, who is a transman, had been accused of shouting "Nazis" at women holding a silent vigil for Afghan women in the centre of Norwich, because the event was organised by a group which had previously raised concerns about the impact of gender ideology on women and girls.
Labour lodged a complaint with Jan Robinson, City Hall's monitoring officer, saying councillor Catt's allegations of transphobia were "slanderous" and breached the authority's code of conduct.
It sparked a 10-month investigation, which will culminate in a standards committee hearing on January 20, at which the councillor could be sanctioned in numerous ways, such as being forced to make a public apology or to undertake training.
He has accused the council of wasting time and money by pursuing the issue and said it was not a matter for the standards committee.
He is the first councillor to face such a hearing in at least five years and the move has been met with incredulity by many at City Hall.
Ms Robinson, who is the council's main legal advisor and is responsible for reviewing conduct, has previously declined to bring standards hearings against other councillors accused of wrongdoing.
No disciplinary action was taken by Ms Robinson, who earns £82,000 as head of legal and governance at City Hall, against councillor Caine after independent legal advisors ruled the politician had not been acting as a councillor when the alleged comments were made.
The affair later turned to farce after it emerged the Greens would also not investigate councillor Caine as the politician had not actually joined the party in the first place.
Ms Robinson faced further questions over her judgement after she sent an astonishing letter to this newspaper accusing one of its reporter of "intimidation and harassment" for trying to speak to councillor Caine about the scandal.
The council has also taken no action against Liam Calvert, another Green, who was accused of "hypocrisy" after his tenants said he had failed to address damp issues in their home.
The Greens initially suspended him but he was then allowed back in after 10 of his opponents failed to gain a large enough majority to oust him from the 16-strong group.
Councillor Calvert was also allowed to cast a vote over his position in the group.
WHAT DID COUNCILLOR CATT WRITE?
Councillor Catt - who stepped down as leader of the City Hall Green group in October, while under investigation - wrote the messages on X last March, while the Nazigate scandal was in the headlines.
In one, he said Labour was "truly a rotten and insidious institution nationally and locally".
The Labour Party truly is a rotten and insidious institution. Nationally and locally.
— Cllr Alex Catt (@CllrAlexCatt) March 29, 2025
Shortly after, he made another comment underneath this original post.
He said: "For context, Norwich Labour Party and Labour Party East are fuelling a transphobic hate campaign against a councillor in Norwich and are spreading lies about a councillor who had to step down due to her disability to try and do this.
"Absolutely vile behaviour."
This post was a reference to the Nazigate scandal - news reports of which were promoted on social media by the Norwich Labour Party and Labour Party East through 'sponsored' posts - as well as Labour questions over the attendance record of Green councillors.
The other councillor referenced was Gillian Francis, a Green, who had been forced to leave her post earlier in the year due to ill health.
In a subsequent post, councillor Catt also criticised Norwich City Council for not flying the trans flag at City Hall on the Trans Day of Visibility, an annual event to celebrate transgenderism.
However, he had got the wrong date and the flag was flown the following day.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
Following the posts on X, the Norwich Labour group complained to the monitoring officer, calling the claims "slanderous and a breach of Nolan principles, specifically the requirement that those in public office behave with honesty, integrity, accountability and leadership.
"We believe that this is a serious breach, particularly at a time when several city and county council by-elections have been called across Norwich.
"We believe that these untrue allegations could influence the decisions that voters might make if they were taken at face value."
WHAT DOES COUNCILLOR CATT SAY NOW?
Councillor Catt has refused to back down from his comments and believes a preliminary report by an independent legal representative, which is yet to be published, supports his claims against the party.
He said: "It is important that politicians are able to speak up on matters like this, which is what I did. I stand by my actions.
"Frankly, I think that Labour councillors should pick up on the mood of the city and country and focus on trying to run the council rather than wasting taxpayer money through officer and lawyer time on bogus complaints about councillors who are calling out the behaviour of the Labour Party."
GREEN CONTROVERSY
The Green Party is yet to find a new leader following councillor Catt's resignation, with Lucy Galvin remaining as interim leader for several months.
It may be that the party is struggling to find a suitable candidate willing to take control of a group that has faced significant controversy in the past 12 months.
Its councillors have been criticised for their poor attendance record at council meetings, which is significantly worse than that of Labour.
In the past 12 months, Greens account for 64pc of the absences recorded at full council meetings, compared to 32pc for Labour, the other major party at the authority.
THE EDP SAYS
It's hardly surprising the Nazigate scandal has resurfaced. It's what happens when issues are not addressed, public concerns dismissed and politicians and officials retreat to their bunkers.
This sorry saga began almost a year ago when Charlie Caine, a Green city councillor, was accused of shouting 'Nazis' women holding a silent vigil.
The councillor is a transman and had previously clashed with the group because it has differing views of gender ideology. Witnesses complained to City Hall that the councillor's behaviour breached its standards.
But the council's monitoring officer refused to investigate, saying the politician was not on official council business at the time, which seems questionable.
The Greens also refused to take any action but their excuse was even more unfathomable: it turned out the councillor had forgotten to actually join the party in the first place, despite being elected as its representative, so could not be disciplined.
The councillor then joined, and still faced no action. Indeed, the politician has refused to even comment on the matter.
But this silence does not mean the scandal has gone away. Now, another Green is in hot water.
Alex Catt is facing a standards hearing because he accused Labour of transphobia for raising questions about the affair.
This is nonsense.
The councillor's trans status is not at issue here. The councillor's behaviour is what is in question. But Mr Catt is quite right to say this is not a matter for the standards committee.
Labour's complaint is vexatious, petty and undermines public debate.
This is the politics of the playground and City Hall officials are wrong to have indulged it with a 10-month inquiry and now a standards hearing.
The lesson seems to be that if a councillor is accused of haranguing members of the public, that's fine.
But if they are accused or being mean to other councillors, then it cannot be tolerated.
This is absurd and it is the direct consequence of the failure of the council and the Green Party to address the original scandal.
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