Just a few weeks ago, East Kilbride SNP called for a change to the political culture in East Kilbride.  Last week, Michael McCann MP gave a definitive answer – it is business as usual for Labour, with lies, deception and false accusations the order of the day.

The local Labour Party, which at one time sought to represent the people of East Kilbride, has become a sad shadow of its former self. Far from being a mass party, it has become a number of small factions haggling over the interests of close associates.

The Sunday Herald of 15 March carried two news stories about East Kilbride Labour.

The first story highlighted complaints of intimidation from senior members of the local Labour Party. The Herald revealed that the details of the allegations and the findings of an investigation into them are not to be made public. It seems the people of East Kilbride are not allowed to know the kind of people Labour offers to represent them.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13205783.Senior_Labour_figures_complained_of__intimidation__in_East_Kilbride_Labour/

The paper also revealed that the Chief Executive of South Lanarkshire Council expressed concern at threats allegedly issued against Councillors who failed to approve a land transaction pursued by a prominent Labour supporter who is closely linked to Michael McCann. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13205763.Council_chief_executive_accused_Labour_donor_of_land_sale__threat_/

In an attempt to deflect attention from these issues, McCann resorted to the age-old tactic of throwing accusations at opponents. We have been here before. During last year’s referendum campaign McCann accused Yes campaigners of indulging in threats and intimidation, but without a shred of evidence emerging to support his allegations. Of course, McCann himself ended up facing a charge of Breach of the Peace following a  clash with a couple of teenagers during that campaign.

On 12 March, East Kilbride SNP held a very positive – and a very transparent – ‘Meet the Candidate’ event in the Murray Lounge. Linda Fabiani MSP introduced Dr Lisa Cameron who talked of the coming campaign and responded to questions. As the photographs show, it was a hugely positive event, attended by a wide range of people.

The next day, Michael McCann put up on his website a comment on the event, which those present have described as a tissue of lies and innuendo and ‘like a different meeting’. He makes clear that his comments are based on the presence in the meeting of one of his (very few) activists, masquerading as an SNP supporter.

In reviewing photographs of the event, an eagle-eyed SNP member picked out a face he had previously seen on social media working alongside Michael McCann and his election agent, Graham Scott.

And, here he is, without sunglasses.

His companion for the evening was apparently very pleased with his performance – overheard, as they departed, congratulating him on ‘having played his part well’. When the credentials given by the Labour activist and his companion were checked, it turned out they had provided false details, laying a trail to the door of an innocent local couple. Nice people!

The irony of using such deception to accuse your opponents of running a dirty tricks campaign seems lost on Michael McCann and his ever-diminishing campaign team. These are the kind of tactics discussed by student activists in the bar on a Friday night, but which never see the light of day once sobriety returns. They are signs of a growing desperation in East Kilbride Labour, of an MP devoid of ethics; this is a campaign rotten to its core.

In his press release about the fantasy event he created, McCann says he wants to talk about the challenges of our time. Perhaps he could start by explaining Labour’s record over the five years since he was elected, and what ‘Voting Labour to beat the Tories’ in 2010 achieved for East Kilbride.

• Labour failed to challenge the Tories on austerity. When provided with opportunities to defeat the Coalition Government, Ed Miliband let Labour MPs abstain from voting, ensuring the government would win crucial votes.

http://www.snp.org/media-centre/news/2013/nov/margaret-curran-called-clarify-bedroom-tax

• In January, Labour backed the coalition’s planned fiscal strategy for beyond the General Election, including a further £30billion of cuts above those already planned by George Osborne.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/msp-fabiani-slams-mp-voting-5017702

• Labour leaders are defying their own members to back spending on a new generation Trident nuclear missile system. This will undermine efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and divert up to £100billion from vital public services, including conventional defence, in the years ahead.

• At a local level, Labour let East Kilbride down over the closure of Rolls Royce. Instead of building a consensus to take the town forward, they chose to work only with the Tories in a secretive and ineffective Task Force. Future generations of the town’s job seekers will pay the price for that politically-motivated decision.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/linda-fabiani-msp-claims-council-5310566

The event in the Murray Lounge was just one of a number of opportunities for Lisa Cameron to lay out the positive vision the SNP is campaigning for in this election. It is noteworthy that Michael McCann sees no need for such an event. His is a campaign devoid of vision , just as he has been an MP devoid of connection to the ordinary lives of the people of East Kilbride.  https://eksnp.scot/2015/03/18/528/

Cllr Gladys Miller, Convener of East Kilbride SNP has written to Jim Murphy MP, Leader of Scottish Labour calling for an inquiry into the local branch of the Labour Party and action against those who regularly attract bad publicity for both East Kilbride and Scottish Labour.

Cllr Miller’s letter follows an extraordinary week of revelations about East Kilbride Labour:

• The Chief Executive of South Lanarkshire Council expressed concern that an East Kilbride Labour supporter may have threatened to use damaging information against elected members unless they acted in a particular way on a disposal of Council land.

• Scottish Labour refused to release details of an investigation into complaints by prominent Labour members about a culture of intimidation within East Kilbride Labour.

• Michael McCann MP attacked the SNP, apparently  based on the account of a Labour activist and a female companion who provided false details when they attended an SNP campaign briefing.  Other attendees have condemned Mr McCann’s description of the meeting as a ’tissue of lies and innuendo’.

The text of Councillor Miller’s letter is below. We will post an update when we receive a response from Scottish Labour.

Letter text
Dear Mr Murphy

I understand that the current state of the opinion polls has resulted in some Scottish Labour MPs and candidates realising, perhaps for the first time, that they face a prospect of defeat in the General Election on 7 May.

For some candidates, this prospect will act as a spur to fight for their seat by engaging with their electors, listening to local concerns, and responding in a way that recognises the legitimacy of political accountability. Unfortunately, there will be other candidates who take a different approach, who lash out at those they perceive as threatening their power base, or their livelihood, or any other benefit to which they feel entitled, simply by being lucky enough to be selected for (what used to be) a safe Labour seat. Unfortunately, in Michael McCann MP, East Kilbride, has an MP pre-eminently in the second camp.

Just a few weeks ago, East Kilbride SNP called for a change to the political culture in East Kilbride. Last week, Mr McCann gave us a definitive answer – it is to be business as usual, with lies, deception and false accusations the order of the day.

You will be aware that concern about East Kilbride Labour is of long-standing, with Councillors, including Mr McCann when in that post, failing to declare interests when others would have done so, and internal feuding. The Sunday Herald of 15 March carried two news stories about East Kilbride Labour. The first related to complaints of intimidation from senior members. The second related to concerns expressed by the Chief Executive of South Lanarkshire Council at threats allegedly issued against Councillors who failed to approve a land transaction pursued by a prominent Labour supporter who is closely linked to Mr McCann.

Being aware that these stories were due to surface, Mr McCann resorted to a diversion – using the attendance of one of his activists at an SNP event, under a false name, as the basis for unfounded allegations against members of East Kilbride SNP, including Linda Fabiani MSP. I understand that he has gone so far as to write to Nicola Sturgeon repeating these allegations.

Mr McCann has form in this kind of tactic. During last year’s referendum he accused local Yes campaigners of threats and intimidation, without a shred of evidence emerging to support his allegations. Embarrassingly, Mr McCann ended up facing a charge of Breach of the Peace following a street confrontation with a couple of teenagers. People in East Kilbride are amazed that he has been left in the post of Chair of the Scottish Group of Labour MPs after receiving this charge, which suggests a tolerance of his aggressive style. I look forward to hearing why he has been left in this post, contrary to previous practice when an elected member is charged with an offence.

On 12 March, East Kilbride SNP held a very transparent ‘Meet the Candidate’ event, in which Linda Fabiani introduced Dr Lisa Cameron, who talked of the coming campaign and responded to questions. This was a hugely positive event, attended by a wide range of people. The next day, Michael McCann put up on his website and issued to the press a comment on the event, described by those present as a tissue of lies and innuendo and ‘like a different meeting’. Having reviewed photographs of the event, SNP members identified that one of the attendees had been seen on social media working alongside Mr McCann and his election agent,Graham Scott.

The Labour activist was accompanied to our meeting by a female companion. At the end of the evening, she was overheard congratulating him on ‘having played his part well’. When the credentials given by the couple were checked, it turned out they had provided false details, laying a trail to the door of an innocent local couple. If SNP activists in East Kilbride were anything like the fantasy creatures of Michael McCann’s imagination, this could have had very serious consequences.

I don’t know what monitoring Scottish Labour carries out of the integrity of its local branches. However, the number of times East Kilbride Labour has featured in the press spotlight (for the wrong reasons) suggest something seriously wrong with the culture of that organisation.

Its members, including elected members, have been reported as indulging in behaviour that may be unethical, misogynistic, mendacious and intimidatory, yet the same small group of people continue to occupy its senior posts year after year and nothing is done to tackle this pattern of unacceptable behaviour.

As a newly elected leader of Scottish Labour who has promised to change the organisation for the better, I am asking you to tackle the canker on the body politic that is East Kilbride Labour. Please initiate an early investigation into the issues that have been running through the history of that organisation and deal with those who drag the name of East Kilbride and of Scottish Labour into disrepute.

I attach for your interest a photograph of the McCann campaign activist who attended our meeting, and his companion on the night. This may help you identify the source of the misinformation currently being broadcast by Mr McCann about our event on 12th March.

I look forward to an end to Mr McCann’s unprincipled attacks on the integrity of members of East Kilbride SNP and to hearing of your proposals for further action. Yours for Scotland: Councillor Gladys Miller: Convener, East Kilbride SNP: https://eksnp.scot/2015/03/21/call-for-murphy-to-act-on-canker-on-the-body-politic-of-east-kilbride/

Michael McCann has angered constituents by raising concerns over his handling of voters’ personal information if he is not re-elected. A number of constituents contacted East Kilbride SNP about a letter Mr McCann has distributed at taxpayers’ expense. Despite being very badly written, the letter clearly implies that if he doesn’t hear from the recipient before the election he will destroy any personal information he holds on them ‘immediately’ if he loses his seat.

Appalled at the terms of the letter, we went in search of guidance on what Mr McCann should tell constituents. Not surprisingly, the guidance, published by the ICO and the UK Parliament, bears no resemblance to the letter that has dropped through doors all over East Kilbride.

The summary guidance from the ICO is

“GOOD PRACTICE TIP: Explain to constituents clearly what you intend
to do with their information whenever opportunity offers.”

The guidance confirms that personal information can be ‘processed’ for up to four days after the election; it therefore need not be destroyed ‘immediately’. So, there was no need for Mr McCann to cause distress to elderly and vulnerable constituents. The guidance suggests the use of a user-friendly form outlining the options available to constituents. This includes having their personal information returned, an option not even mentioned in Mr McCann’s letter.

The letter singularly fails to do its job, unless Mr McCann really means that if he is not re-elected he will act in the outrageous manner it describes.

One experienced Westminster case worker described this exercise as primarily for getting McCann’s name dropping through constituents’ letter boxes courtesy of Royal Mail and House of Commons expenses.

In his column for the East Kilbride News on 18 March, Mr McCann claimed to have worked with up to 6,000 constituents. If even a quarter of them received this notice, the cost will run into thousands of pounds. This badly executed publicity stunt further damages Mr McCann’s credibility and raises serious doubts about his competence and that of the team around him. We are calling on Michael McCann to write to his constituents again – this time using his campaign funds – clarifying that they do not need to contact him until after May 7th and giving them the full range of options for what he will do with their personal information.

A pattern of abuse

After this blog went up on-line, people got in contact from across Scotland, reporting Labour MPs sending similar letters to constituents. Some, amazingly, were even worse than Michael Mc Cann’s. We heard tell of similar letters from Jimmy Hood in Lanark and Hamilton East, Tom Greatrex in Rutherglen & Hamilton West, and this one from Jim McGovern, in Dundee West.

It seems there is a general decision by Scottish Labour MPs – or a directive from head office – that they should make one more call on House of Commons expenses to send out letters that are little more than badly designed personal promotion. Come 8th of May, there will undoubtedly be a call for more public funds for another round of letters, hopefully this time telling constituents the real options for dealing with their personal data.

https://eksnp.scot/2015/03/21/fury-as-mccann-mishandles-data-notices/

Dear Mr McCann

I understand from the East Kilbride News of of 26 March that you hold what you assert to be a transcript of a ‘Meet the Candidate’ event held by East Kilbride SNP in the Murray Lounge on Thursday 12 March. This recording was made without my knowledge as organiser of the event and, if such a recording exists, I have been recorded without my approval.

Please note that I assert ownership of any of my personal data contained within that unauthorised recording, and in any transcript or re-recording of that event. I am issuing you with notice under Section 10 of the Data Protection Act that you should cease processing my personal data and should not pass to others any further personal data of mine, or data that you assert to be my personal data obtained without my consent.

According to the Act, I must provide you with a reason for serving this notice. My reason for issuing this notice is as follows:

My objection to your processing or transmitting my personal data is that it is being used as the basis for false and misleading statements about East Kilbride SNP, and the SNP Candidate for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow in the General Election, Dr Lisa Cameron.

As an example, your statement “SNP activists have infiltrated local schools in a bid to brainwash pupils into supporting their political brand.” has no basis in reality, and certainly not in any statement made at this meeting.

The only SNP supporters who have ‘infiltrated’ schools are pupils required to attend by law, or have stayed on beyond the leaving age to advance their education. Your attack on them as ‘infiltrators’ is bizarre from someone who claims to be a serious politician. It is even more bizarre from someone who regularly attends local schools and young persons’ voluntary groups in a political capacity.

That you continued to make these visits after being charged with Breach of the Peace for a confrontation involving a school pupil raises serious questions. If the charge is no longer outstanding, your constituents are entitled to know the basis on which it has been discharged.

On their website, Scottish Labour Students say, “We are active on our university and college campuses, in our schools and in our local communities, helping to take Labour’s message to wider society and spread Labour values wherever we go.” (my emphasis) I look forward to receiving by return your condemnation of this infiltrationist, brainwashing organisation, or a retraction of your ludicrous allegations against East Kilbride SNP.

The Herald newspaper has already carried a response to your claims “Jim Gilhooly, executive director of Education Resources at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “It is worth noting that these allegations are anonymous, so must be treated with caution. Furthermore, our secondary schools have all confirmed that there are no such political meetings organised within school premises at lunchtime or any other part of the school day.””

Had you taken the allegations seriously, you would have made immediate contact with Mr Gilhooly or with local schools before making such outrageous statements. Your misrepresentation of decent SNP members and associated attack on Lisa Cameron’s character are unwarranted and intolerable, and you do not have my consent to hold my personal data and to use it in this way.

The use to which you have already put selected extracts from the transcript of this event you say you hold may well be a breach of Section 106 of the Representation of the People Act, the terms of which you can find online.

A defence to the charge of making a false statement is that you show you “had reasonable grounds for believing, and did believe, that statement to be true”. You say that you made your statements based on a transcript presented to you by Andy MacMillan. It is reasonable to expect that you would have satisfied yourself as to his character and suitability to be your sole witness for these allegations, and therefore a key plank in your campaign against East Kilbride SNP and its candidate. Your comments in the EK News reveal how little you knew about Mr MacMillan and the nature of his business.

Whilst selling ‘Clubwear’ is a perfectly defensible business, another strand of the company’s business – the sale of dresses for strippers – was made clear by the company’s Twitter account. This account was closed down as soon as attention was focused on it by your allegations. However, the ‘pinned tweet’ shown in the EK News article, posted almost a year ago, linked this Twitter account to the world of online pornography. There was no discernible warning on the home page of the account that this was the case. The voters of East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow will be amazed that you are continuing to link your campaign to such activity.

You claim that your record is ‘transparent and unblemished’. It is certainly transparent, but to call it ‘unblemished’ while dragging your campaign into the gutter in this way and with an unresolved charge of Breach of the Peace in the public domain is a serious error of judgement.

I insist that you stop associating my name and what you allege to be my personal data with your sleazy and underhand campaign.

Please note that you are required to respond to this request to stop using my personal data within 21 calendar days. I reserve the right to make public that this notice has been served and your response, or failure to respond, to it.

This notice is served without prejudice to any other rights or remedies I, or any other party, may have.

https://eksnp.scot/2015/03/30/an-open-letter-to-michael-mccann/

On 30th March, the 2010 to 2015 UK Parliament was dissolved, and Michael McCann ceased to be Labour MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow and became just another candidate.

Before dissolution, his campaign had already begun to plumb the depths. After the dissolution, the McCann campaign launched its biggest attack yet on the norms of political campaigning. Overnight, it turned South Lanarkshire Council’s operational HQ in East Kilbride, the Civic Centre, into its campaign headquarters.

As staff entered the Civic Centre the next morning, and every morning since, they have had to troop past a bank of posters promoting the Labour candidate’s campaign. Many of the staff know Mr McCann of old; not only did he have his parliamentary office in the building, he is also a former Deputy Leader of the Council, which has a dire track record of dealing with equal pay claims by its female employees. Although there have been reports of rifts between close associates of Mr McCann and the Council, and of former colleagues refusing to campaign for him, these don’t seem to get in the way of the Council doing what it can to aid his re-election.

As the challenges from political opponents and voters mounted, the Council stalled, dithered, and delayed answering the question, “Why has this been allowed?”.  Only when they were safely off for their long Easter weekend did the Council slide out a carefully worded response to an enquiry from the media, “The Council rents accommodation to Michael McCann in the same way that it has at times rented accommodation to politicians of different political parties.”

Mr McCann has run his constituency operation from the Civic Centre since 2011. Before that, it was the base for East Kilbride’s former Labour MSP, Andy Kerr. When the SNP’s Linda Fabiani defeated Andy Kerr, she asked about moving into the Civic Centre. The Council rebuffed Ms Fabiani’s approach, allowing Mr McCann to move in instead. This decision will have cost taxpayers thousands of pounds in wasted IT and telecoms costs and alterations to signage for the Civic Centre.

Since 2011, the Council has resisted attempts by the SNP to find out the terms of its lease with Mr McCann. While citing the spurious grounds of ‘commercial confidentiality’ (a favourite tactic of SLC), it now seems that the over-riding concern has been to conceal the advantageous location Mr McCann’s campaign would enjoy at this General Election.

The Council’s attempt to cover its tracks on this sweetheart deal has extended to asking the wrong question about its legal obligations and reassuring everyone it had done nothing wrong: Its press statement said, “After discussions with the Electoral Commission our legal advice is that the Council is not in breach of electoral law as a result of these posters being displayed.” (our emphasis)

The question the council should have asked, to which it may very well have received a different answer, is, “Are we in breach of Local Government law?”, to which the answer would probably have been ‘Yes, you are’.

For the avoidance of doubt, the fact that it was Mr McCann’s team that put the posters up inside the Civic Centre is no defence. The act is absolutely clear “A local authority shall not give financial or other assistance to a person for the publication of material which the authority are prohibited by this section from publishing themselves.”

We know that the Council believes the publication of this material on the Civic Centre could be construed as their endorsement of a political position. We know this, because they very vigorously advocated and defended this view during the independence referendum.

Within minutes of the above ‘Yes’ sign appearing on the grass outside the Civic Centre, the Council swung into action. Senior staff from its Hamilton Head Office contacted the Civic Centre and instructed removal of the ‘offending’ sign. To provide backup, a Council lorry was dispatched, with two operatives, to ensure it was removed. The following email from a senior council employee makes clear that the Civic Centre, even the grass outside it, should not be used for campaigning,

“For future reference, I would advise you that campaign materials are not permitted at the East Kilbride Civic Centre or other such operational buildings of the Council … The landscaped area you refer to is part of the Civic Centre complex and therefore falls within the above guidance.” (our emphasis)

If a Yes sign resting on an area of public open space is not permitted because it could give the appearance of Council endorsement, this is true in spades of two large banks of posters on the Civic Centre itself. Despite demanding urgent removal of Yes signs from the grass outside the Civic Centre, the Council’s current defence appears to be that, three years earlier, it had entered into a lease that allows Mr McCann to convert his MP’s office into the headquarters for his election campaign and to use the building as a very high profile poster site.

This is an indefensible position and the Council Leader and its Chief Executive, who also happens to be the Returning Officer for the Council area, need to take action. Having permitted Mr McCann a week’s publicity at the expense of its reputation, when the Council resumes normal business after the Easter break, they must address this outrageous demonstration of political bias.

If Mr McCann refuses to remove the posters, it can not be beyond the wit of the Council to find a means of concealing the posters from general view.   https://eksnp.scot/2015/04/06/controversy-over-councils-sweetheart-deal-for-mccann/

In October 2014, Michael McCann MP was charged with Breach of the Peace following an incident in which it has been alleged Mr McCann verbally abused two young Yes campaigners. Last week, it was revealed no further proceedings were to be taken against him.

The young Yes activists, Jordan Lindsay (aged 17 at the time of the incident) and Eryn Semple (aged 19) have lodged a statement with the East Kilbride News describing the incident and its aftermath. They have issued a challenge to Mr McCann to do the same.

After hearing that the charges have been dropped, Mr McCann used the opportunity to launch an astonishing press attack on Jordan and Eryn. In the East Kilbride News, he claimed to be the victim of a ‘malicious crime’ and accused them of wasting police time. He also said he was taking legal advice about suing both young people.

These are serious charges and threats, and were carried on the front page of the EK News. Jordan and Eryn, both of whom are well known through social media as having been involved in the incident, were given no right to reply when these accusations were carried. The EK News has refused to carry the response by Jordan and Eryn in this week’s paper. Clearly, Michael McCann’s bullying behaviour pays off.

Jordan and Eryn are furious at this decision. Both families fully support their version of events, and have hit back at Mr McCann, branding him unfit to be an MP.

Jordan Lindsay said:

“Eryn and I were making our way home after a leafleting session for the Yes campaign when a car u-turned and pulled up beside us. The driver, who I recognised as Michael McCann, accused us of defacing a poster and said he would deface us. I asked him to repeat his statement, which he refused to do. “His allegation that we had defaced a billboard was untrue, it is so high off the ground we would have needed a ladder to reach it. His behaviour was very aggressive.

Eryn Semple said:

“When a car u-turned and stopped beside us, I was concerned at where this was going.  When I realised the person shouting at us was Michael McCann, I was shocked at his behaviour.”

Below is a picture of Jordan and Eryn at the billboard they were accused of defacing, now being used by Michael McCann as part of his campaign. As can be seen from the photo, even Jordan, at six feet two, can’t reach the bottom of the billboard from the highest point on the ground.

Jordan spoke to his father, Steven Lindsay, about the incident. Mr Lindsay, who was not involved in the Yes campaign, and is not an SNP member, was shocked at such behaviour from someone in Mr McCann’s position. He told Jordan he should report the matter to the Police or he would go and speak to Mr McCann. Jordan reported the incident to the Police.

Hearing about Michael McCann’s allegation that the complaint was politically motivated and a waste of Police time, Jordan and Eryn’s parents were furious. Steven Lindsay said: “Michael McCann’s allegation that the complaint to the police was politically motivated is a fantasy of his own invention. Jordan was clearly shocked at Mr McCann’s behaviour, both in making a false allegation of vandalism and his aggressive attitude. It was because of my insistence that Mr McCann be spoken to about his behaviour that Jordan reported the matter to the Police. “Someone who is let off a charge of Breach of the Peace and responds by slandering a couple of young people is not fit to be an MP. That is not a matter of politics, it is a matter of character.”

Aamer Anwar, Jordan Lindsay’s solicitor said “Jordan has protested his innocence from the start, and whilst relieved the Crown have dropped charges against him, he is disappointed that there are no further proceedings against Mr  McCann. The last few months have been a tremendous strain for a young man who had every right to campaign, without being bullied and intimidated. Despite Mr McCann’s recent assertions that he is seeking legal advice, there are no proceedings against Jordan, who would of course welcome his day in court to let everyone know what happened that night”

Duncan McLean, Secretary of East Kilbride SNP, said: “Within minutes of this incident occurring, my attention was drawn to Jordan’s post on Facebook, giving a clear statement of the event, from which neither he nor Eryn have wavered. That account, and their subsequent behaviour has the ring of truth. “The contrast between their behaviour and that of Michael McCann couldn’t be more stark. Making serious allegations against young people, but failing to give them the opportunity to respond is the kind of moral failure Michael McCann has displayed throughout his political career. “His decision to make a counter-complaint, backed up by two unidentified witnesses, and now his wild accusations of criminal behaviour, are the mark of a politician not in control of his decisions. He is a liability to his constituents and to his party.”

SUMMARY OF EVENTS OF 9 SEPTEMBER BY JORDAN LINDSAY AND ERYN SEMPLE –
AS SUPPLIED TO THE EK NEWS

We had been campaigning in the Jackton area with Yes East Kilbride. We left our colleagues at Hairmyres Station and set out for Westwood along Eaglesham Road. As we walked away from the bus stop located near the entrance to Windward Road, we became aware of a car behind us performing a U-turn and accelerating back towards us. At this time, we had no idea of the identity of the occupant.

The car pulled to a halt beside us, the window on the front passenger side was pulled down, and the driver shouted at us. Jordan heard the driver say that we had defaced a No poster and he would deface us. He bent down, looked into the vehicle, and recognised Michael McCann. There was no one else visible in the vehicle. He and Michael McCann conducted a brief conversation but Mr McCann refused to repeat what he had said when he first drew up. Having also realised who the driver was, and in an effort to calm things down Eryn jokingly said “Just Vote Yes”. Mr McCann muttered “Typical Yes supporters.” and drove off. Mr McCann remained in his car for the whole conversation, which lasted approximately two minutes, therefore the words he used could have been heard by no one other than the participants in the incident.

Jordan posted a description of the incident on his Facebook page as soon as he got home and this was being read and shared by his Facebook friends within minutes of the event. Eryn texted her mother immediately after the incident and discussed it with her when she got home.

That evening, Jordan discussed the incident with his father and made clear that he felt threatened by Mr McCann’s approach and his language. Jordan’s father said someone needed to speak to Mr McCann about his inappropriate behaviour, and either he would do it or the Police should. The following morning, Jordan reported the incident to the Police. Thereafter, statements were taken from both Jordan and Eryn.

In early October, Police Officers attended Jordan’s home, they confirmed that Michael McCann had been charged with an offence in response to the report he had submitted. The Police Officers advised Jordan that Mr McCann had brought forward two witnesses and, on the basis of  statements they made in support of Mr McCann, Jordan was also to be charged with an offence.

As the incident largely consisted of a conversation between Jordan Lindsay standing at the side of Eaglesham Road, speaking to Michael McCann through the passenger side window of a car in which Mr McCann appeared to be the sole occupant, it is not clear what understanding of the incident these witnesses would have had. https://eksnp.scot/2015/05/05/press-attack-on-young-activists-sees-mccann-branded-not-fit-to-be-an-mp/

East Kilbride SNP has grave concerns about the way South Lanarkshire Council discharges, or fails to discharge, its statutory obligation to remain politically neutral. In recent months, the Council has given the impression that it handed decision-making over East Kilbride Civic Centre to East Kilbride Labour Party to do with as it wishes.

We have challenged the Council to come clean over its arrangement with the Labour Party, but it has refused to do so, instead indulging in delaying tactics and dubious legal challenges to requests for information.

Voters who asked for information about the Council’s sweetheart deal with Labour have received lengthy emails asking them to justify the release of ‘personal data’, despite the fact none of the information requested is sensitive personal data.

For the record, it has long been established that the release of personal data may be justified if there is a legitimate public interest. Certainly, as regards the misuse of the Civic Centre by Labour, even if personal data is to be disclosed, this is entirely justified.

Office premises in EK Civic Centre were made available to Adam Ingram, Andy Kerr, and Michael McCann only because of the office to which they had been elected. At least, that has been the reason given by South Lanarkshire Council; maybe the reluctance to provide information indicates that no such policy has ever been approved by the Council.

Could it be the case that they only got access to the Civic Centre because they carry the right party card? Certainly, the address given for ex Labour MP Jimmy Hood‘s Constituency Office suggests East Kilbride is not the only town in which South Lanarkshire Council has proven a willing landlord for a Labour MP; but it has been strangely unable to provide space in any of its operational premises for an MP, MSP, or MEP of a different political party.

If there is a clear policy covering all-party access to Council premises by elected members, why is the Council so unwilling to disclose how it has been implemented?

All of the elected members, particularly Michael McCann, a former Deputy Leader of the Council, should have been aware that a lease with the Council would be subject to Freedom of Information disclosure. Indeed, if their use of the premises have been funded by either the Scottish or UK Parliaments, information will be available from these bodies as well.

The statement below, which is from a decision of the Information Commissioner in respect of Caerphilly Council in Wales is clear:

 “When considering what information third parties should expect to have disclosed about them, the Commissioner considers that a distinction should be drawn as to whether the information relates to the third party’s public or private life.

“The Commissioner’s view is that information which relates to an individual’s private life (i.e. their home, family, social life or finances) will deserve more protection than information about them acting in an official or work capacity (i.e. their public life).”

If the Council was unaware of this Caerphilly case and many others like it, they certainly have been aware of guidance, issued by the Scottish Information Commissioner. We know that, because, the Council drew attention to the guidance in the email sent out to inquirers as part of the process of delaying making information available.

 “In an Information Rights Tribunal decision which looked at the disclosure of details of MPs’ expenses the Tribunal considered that there were clear legitimate public interests at stake.

These included the general principle of freedom of information, public scrutiny of the use of public funds, encouraging MPs to make better value for money choices, assessing politicians’ probity, enhancing public confidence in Parliament and informing public debate on reforms of the allowance system.

“The legitimacy of these interests was enhanced by a history of mistakes and misuse of the expense system, …(our emphasis)”

These two statements point very clearly to South Lanarkshire Council releasing the information requested without further delay. Here is why:

• The information requested relates to the tenants operating in their public capacity – this includes the period spent by Mr McCann winding up his MP’s office if he insists on doing so within the Civic Centre to the detriment of his successor’s ability to serve the voters.

• As the landlord is a local authority and the tenant the current or immediate past holder of a public office and funded from the public purse there should be a presumption in favour of freedom of information.

• The public is entitled to examine how the Council implements its policy of making an office available to elected members of the Scottish, UK, and European Parliaments.

• The history of South Lanarkshire Council’s apparent political bias adds legitimacy to the public’s interest in these matters, not least because the Civic Centre was turned into a political poster site for two weeks, almost certainly a breach of the Council’s statutory obligations.

So, what is the Council achieving by withholding the information requested, apart from further damage to its reputation? It is of course buying time to cover its tracks, and to hope that attention moves on to other matters, letting it return to ‘business as usual’.

It is time for the Council to bring its cover up and stalling tactics to an end, and stop using a spurious ‘data protection’ defence that has long since lost any credibility. They must release the information requested, in full, and as quickly as possible.

https://eksnp.scot/2015/06/29/council-still-in-lockdown-over-civic-centre-scandal/