WASTE OF SPACE
Sexist Tory councillor is busted parking his posh Mercedes in disabled bay
A TORY councillor has been condemned for parking his gleaming £34,000 Mercedes in a disabled space.
James Fullarton’s colleague David Paterson said: “It was pig ignorant and arrogant.”
It’s the latest controversy to hit wealthy farmer Fullarton, who was slammed in 2014 for sexist comments at an independence debate.
He mocked opponents by saying the “Yes we can” slogan “sounds better than a woman closing her legs and saying no”. He also referred to SNP MSP Joan McAlpine as “honey”.
Paterson clashed with Fullarton over his parking on Thursday as he arrived for a meeting at Scottish Borders Council HQ in Newtown St Boswells. He said: “Jim was parked in the disabled bay with his door open. That stopped me being able to park next to him.
“I waited five minutes for him to shut his door. Then when I parked he said, “You shouldn’t be parking there” because it was the deputy leader’s space. But there’s no deputy leader.
“I pointed to the disabled space and said, “You shouldn’t be parking there”, but he just shrugged and walked off.”
Paterson is an ex-SNP councillor who has sat as an independent for 18 years. He took a photo of Fullarton’s parking.
The space is in part of the car park reserved for councillors but Paterson said members of the public sometimes use it.
Fullarton, 69, dismissed the row and said the disabled space wasn’t needed because all the councillors were “fit”. He accused Paterson of “mean spirit”.
The council confirmed they no longer had a deputy leader and said the sign on that space would be removed.