Veteran barred after Royal British Legion Scotland row

A veteran of the Women’s Royal Army Corps has been banned from Campbeltown Royal British Legion Scotland (RBLS) branch. On the eve of the organisation’s biggest fundraiser of the year, approaching Remembrance Sunday, pensioner Agnes Strang, 87, claims she was thrown out of a branch meeting on September 14 and humiliated in front of members she counted as friends. Mrs Strang, of Ralston Road, who is also the daughter of a Second World War veteran, said: ‘The chairman shouted at me, “Get out, get out, you are not wanted here”. ‘I was humiliated in front of everybody.’ Mrs Strang added that before the September 14 meeting, she had been invited to attend by a friend, Jimmy Robertson, who drove her to the meeting at the Argyll Bowling Club. Earlier this year, at Lochgilphead Armed Forces Day, Mrs Strang approached the branch chairman, George Rahman, asking if she could rejoin the branch. In a letter dated July 18, Mrs Strang was told that the matter had formed part of the agenda at the monthly meeting on Friday July 13. The letter stated: ‘At the monthly meeting members were asked to make a decision and after some discussion it was agreed that you should not be allowed to rejoin the branch. ‘Although you will not be able to join the branch, you can still be a member of Legion Scotland by paying your yearly capitation to Edinburgh. ‘However, this does not allow you to attend Campbeltown branch monthly meetings or other organised events.’ After the events on September 14, Mrs Strang was informed in a further letter, dated September 25, that RBLS Campbeltown had held an extraordinary general meeting on September 20 at which a vote was taken. The letter, signed by the branch chairman, stated: ‘The branch currently has 29 members and 16 members were present. Fifteen voted that you should not be allowed to rejoin the branch and one member abstained. ‘The committee has been directed by the branch members, under section 14.5 of the RBLS SCIO constitution, that you will not be allowed to rejoin the branch. It is hoped this puts an end to the matter.’ Andy Alexander, the area secretary of the Campbeltown RBLS branch, told the Courier: ‘Following feedback from our membership, we informed the former member that her application to rejoin the branch had been declined. ‘The decision, while regrettable, was taken in the interests of maintaining the harmonious culture within the branch.’ A RBLS spokesperson, from the organisation’s national Edinburgh headquarters, said that Mrs Strang was listed on the Legion Scotland database as a cancelled member as of the end of the 2016-17 membership year. He added: ‘She did not renew for the current membership year; therefore, her membership had lapsed.’