Friday, May 19th 2017

Councillors suspended over Twitter row

The Daily Record has reported that Alastair Majury and Robert Davies have been suspended after allegedly posting offensive comments on social media.

Two recently elected councillors in Stirling have been suspended by their part after they allegedly posted offesive comments online. The comments came to light last week.

Councillor Majury has since faced further calls to quit following accusations of making sectarian comments on social media.

It is said that the twitter account Mulder1981, which has been attributed to the councillor, used the term 'Tarriers', a derogatory term for Catholics, and also joked about the accusation that all Catholics are paedophiles.

A spokesman for the party said: “Both councillors remain suspended from the Scottish Conservative Group on Stirling Council pending an investigation.”

On Tuesday Stirling North SNP councillor Susan McGill called Councillor Majury to resign from the council.

She added: “This form of bigotry and hatred simply cannot be tolerated and it is a complete disgrace that the Tories continue to stand by Councillor Majury.

“Given his history of hatred and extremist views, Councillor Majury must stand down from Stirling Council immediately. Sectarian hatred and bigotry have no place representing our local communities – if he doesn’t resign, the Tories must sack him.”

Anti-sectarian charity Nil by Mouth also condemned the comments and campaign director Dave Scott said: “It is a disappointing start to someone’s political career.

“A councillor is expected to provide the same service to constituents and make sure that people can access local services, regardless of their religion.

“I’d suggest the councillor’s behaviour would lead to some people questioning if they are comfortable coming to speak to him.”

He added that the charity had offered a free course focusing on sectarianism in the workplace, Beyond Religion and Belief, which would be provided to all elected members and Stirling Council staff if desired.

He added: “I believe a Conservative spokesperson has said the councillor would be willing to take part, so we look forward to hearing from him.”

Police said on Monday that an investigation into tweets made by Councillor Davies was continuing.

The original article can be found at http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/twitter-row-councillors-suspended-conservative-10449279 

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