The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Rejection of Trump plan sparked torrent of hate
Yesterday in our Trump at Menie: The Untold Story series, we told how 14 councillors voted on whether to allow US property magnate Donald Trump to build a £1 billion golf resort at Menie in Aberdeenshire – and the result came out as a 7-7 tie. When committee chairman Martin Ford used his casting vote to reject permission, it sent shockwaves throughout the north-east. Here in part three, we reveal the inside story on what happened in the immediate aftermath of that decision being made and how it impacted the lives of local politicians.
Witnesses recall a stunned public gallery after Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure services committee (ISC) voted to reject Donald Trump’s golf resort proposal.
“All hell broke loose. There was just a circus,” said committee member Jim Gifford.
His colleague Fiona McRae added: “I remember the ripple of shock. It reverberated around the table.
“The senior planning officers – there was a significant paling of their complexions.”
Aware of the ruckus, ISC chairman Martin Ford ordered a coffee break.
It was clear to Councillor Graeme Clark who the metaphorical fingers were pointing at.
He said: “We could see there was a good chance Martin would receive a hell of a criticism.”
Golf developer Neil Hobday, who came up with the idea to build the luxury resort, was dumbstruck.
He said: “We thought a deferral was our worst-case scenario. It came as a huge shock to us.”
Trump’s right-hand man at the time, George Sorial, said: “Martin Ford did not even take a moment.
“If you really were a fair arbiter of fact, you take five minutes, you take 10 minutes.
“How about this? ‘Let’s reconvene tomorrow – I want to get this right’.
“We’re talking about a project that has an investment in the hundreds of millions of pounds.”
Journalists scurried out of the room and staged an impromptu press conference in the Council Chamber anteroom.
Another ISC member, John Cox, left the meeting room and didn’t return. He told us the decision had “got his back up”.
Councillor Albert Howie said: “I was angry. I couldn’t see the sense in stopping someone spending that kind of dosh in the area.
“I said to the TV cameras it was the worst decision I had seen made in my time as a councillor.”
Mr Sorial also gave a memorable interview.
He told reporters: “I think it sends out a devastating message that, if you want to do big business, don’t do it in the north-east of Scotland.”
Mr Ford said: “The way Sorial’s comments were reported set the agenda for the subsequent debate.”
Explaining why he made those comments at the time, Mr Sorial told us: “It was a combination of shock, anger and confusion.
“It wasn’t our intent to cast a really negative reflection on the area.”
As controversy grew outside, the committee meeting resumed.
There were 12 more agenda items, including a decision on who would represent the council at a fish and chips awards night in Peterhead.
Ninety minutes later, the meeting was done, but most onlookers left following the golf resort controversy.
Mr Ford said: “I don’t think anybody had been sent from London to cover the fish and chips story.”
He was left to field questions from the media without support from the council’s PR team as policy dictates they cannot coach a councillor who has not backed the local authority’s recommendations.
“On the scale of controversy, this was stellar,” said Mr Ford.
Afterwards Mr Sorial and Mr Hobday headed to the Marcliffe Hotel.
Mr Sorial told us they were greeted by a crowd of about 150 business leaders.
He added: “They were waiting for me and Neil – including (then Aberdeen FC chairman and housing developer) Stewart Milne and (Marcliffe owner) Stewart Spence.
“They were saying ‘Don’t get discouraged. Please don’t let Mr Trump walk away from this’.”
As dawn broke the next day, the media frenzy resumed in earnest.
Journalists from across the world were bombarding Mr Ford’s phone.
When reporters got his engaged tone, they tried Debra Storr, his fellow Lib Dem who also voted against the Menie project.
BBC radio was due to interview her, but things took a dramatic twist just beforehand when a woman knocked on her door.
Ms Storr said: “I answered the door and she took a swing at me. She didn’t make contact.
“She told me I had ruined the economy of the northeast single-handedly.
“I had 6,000 emails that weekend. Some were abusive. A couple were probably bordering on the threatening. I went to work because I felt unsafe at home on my own.”
Ms Storr told BBC radio staff what had happened and news of the assault quickly spread.
It is understood that the police spoke to a woman about the incident and opted to take no further action, which Ms Storr was content with.
After the incident at Ms Storr’s home, police were worried. They called Mr Ford and urged him and his wife to stay home with the doors locked.
Meanwhile, things were turning ugly on the streets.
Those outraged over the decision daubed offensive messages on bedsheets and put them up on roads near councillors’ homes.
For some it was just too much to take.
Alastair Ross, who had first suggested the ISC reject the idea, suffered mental health problems due to the abuse he suffered.
Some years later, he was diagnosed with cancer and he died in 2018, aged 69.
Councillor Paul Johnston said: “I know Alastair was depressed by it.”
ISC member Ian Mollison added: “It did (have a toll on his health). I know events like the Trump event preyed on his mind.
“The way these councillors were treated, I thought it was despicable.”
Mr Ross’s wife did not wish to comment.
On the afternoon of the day after the ISC decision, the Evening Express hit the news stands.
Its “You traitors” headline sought to reflect the sentiment that 97% of its readers surveyed backed the golf resort, and the two words quoted someone speaking in the corridor after the meeting, rather than the newspaper’s own view.
Mr Cox said the coverage reflected public opinion.
He added: “The business community was shocked. They felt ‘which developer would want to get themselves mixed into this?’ ”
Nevertheless, the Evening Express front page caused outrage in some quarters.
It was difficult for Mr Johnston. His wife left her PA role due to a falling out with a pro-resort colleague.
He said: “You can say it affected our family. There are still some people who won’t talk to me.”
Mr Ford added: “The notion that (the decision) made us traitors was absurd. My wife was very upset by it.
“I was in the middle of an international media storm.”
More followed two days after the ISC meeting when the Evening Express superimposed the faces of the seven councillors who voted against the project on to the faces of turnips, under the headline: “Stuff the council neeps, we support Trump.”
Mr Howie told us he backed the coverage, taking aim at the four Lib Dem ISC councillors who rejected the resort.
He said: “I did think they were turnips really.
“They totally seemed to be anti-business. I agreed with the Evening Express.”
However, Mr Ford, who was one of those to have his head superimposed on to a neep, drew a direct link between the Evening Express coverage and the abuse councillors got at the time.
He said: “If you publish headlines calling people traitors, publish their emails, telling people they are buffoons, no hopers, I’m afraid while everyone has to take personal responsibility for their actions, it is not unreasonable to suppose people will start to do things they should not do. Some crossed the line.”
The Evening Express editor at the time was Damian Bates. He did not respond to an invitation to comment.
Mr Ford added: “The day after the ISC meeting I received 600 emails, mostly hostile.
“A small number descended into threats and racism and I reported them to the police. The racism is because I was born in England.
“One was from a resident of Balmedie who said I had no business being on the committee because I wasn’t from the area and Debra Storr had no business being on the committee because she was disabled.
“It would have been so easy for any of the seven to (change their minds) under immense pressure. None did.”
As if things were not bad enough already for Mr Ford, they were about to get worse...