Complaint over council leader is thrown out
STEPHEN BARK
South Lanarkshire’s council leader did not breach the councillors’ code of conduct when tweeting at an independence rally, according to the Standards Commission.
Hamilton South councillor John Ross came in for heavy criticism in November last year when he tweeted: “The perfect answer to our unionist friends”.
Attached to the tweet were photos of banners from the rally in Glasgow depicting a Union flag flying from a pile of poo and the phrase “Ram yer union up yer hoop”.
Cllr Ross later deleted the tweet – which was sent from his personal account and not in connection with his role as council leader – and apologised for any offence it may have caused.
At the time he said: “The wording and images were not the sort of thing I would use myself and when I had a chance to reflect on this, I decided to delete the tweet from my timeline.
“I never intended to offend and my apologies go to anyone who was offended.”
A complaint from South Lanarkshire’s Conservative group was thrown out by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards who cited the European Convention on Human Rights as providing an “enhanced protection” for matters of
“political expression”.
The Conservative group had felt the tweets breached section 3.2 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors which requires elected members to treat members of the public with courtesy at all times in their role as a councillor.
Business manager for the Conservative group, Cllr Richard Nelson (Larkhall) has dismissed Cllr Ross’s previous comments as “half-hearted” and is now calling for a “full formal apology” from the council leader.
Cllr Nelson said: “We here in the Conservative group are appalled by the comments made by Cllr Ross and feel that such derogatory comments go beyond the realms of freedom of speech.
“The leader of South Lanarkshire Council should be expected to show a higher level of responsibility and decorum when communicating on social media.”
Cllr Nelson added: “Despite calls from councillors and members of the public he has so far only offered a half-hearted apology in the form of a brief tweet.
“We feel that someone in Cllr Ross’s position should have taken responsibility for his comments and issued a full formal apology.”
In response to Cllr Nelson’s comments, an SNP spokesperson said: “Cllr Ross has already apologised for any offence his tweet may have caused.”