Were an Angel candidate for the Glasgow East Westminster Parliament seat the automatic closing down of the selection process because of the absence of another hopeful might be taken as a hint that Angels were not wanted by the New Labour regime.
Doug Maughan and Irene Graham (not Angels, most certainly not) left meekly after 'giving their agreement' to the suspension of the selection meeting when family reasons caused the failure of the shoo-in candidate to present himself at his own adoption meeting.
George Ryan, a Glasgow councillor, had been fingered personally by Jonah Brown, which is a sufficient, (some might argue necessary) explanation, rather than 'family reasons'; better, even, than his family preferring not to have the searchlight of standing in a national election turned on Glasgow councillors and their activities.
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It's Hilarious, HG. Headless chickens, trying to find someone to represent East Glasgow who doesn't stink! Who'd have thought Labour would have such a problem?
This has been posted by a commenter in the Sunday Herald this morning, L. And now the suggested candidate is the person who is already member of the Scottish Parliament for the same area. I'm waiting to hear about her.
"Eleven Labour Glasgow City Councillors, including Councillor George Ryan, who last night suddenly pulled out of the contest to represent Labour in the crucial Glasgow East by-election, were reported to the Standards on 18 June 2008 in connection with a controversial land deal in the city centre.
The complaint surrounded their conduct in relation to the controversial attempt to close down the 150 year old Paddy’s Market in the city and obtain land on which the market is currently located.
The complaint which was submitted to the Standards Commission of Scotland by a representative of Paddy’s Market traders claimed that Councillor Ryan misled the council in a report he presented to the council’s Executive Committee which recommended the council purchase the head lease of the land where the market is situated and for the historic Paddy’s Market to be closed down.
The report which was presented by Councillor Ryan at a meeting on 20 March 2008, and subsequently led to the council’s endorsement of its recommendations, stated that the owners of the land had agreed to provide the lease at a reduced rate to the Council. However, the forty page complaint document submitted to the Standards Commission included information that clearly indicated that no such deal had been made with the council.
Councillor Ryan also faces investigation for other breaches of the Code of Conduct in relation to this matter along with ten other high profile Glasgow City Council Labour councillors including the Council leader, Steven Purcell.
Paddy’s Market representative, Brian Daly said:
“This market has been here for over 150 years, and my family has been trading here for three generations. The Labour councillors who are intent on closing us down have failed in their responsibilities as elected members to engage with us at any time in relation to this. They have, instead, chosen to make backroom decisions and bulldozer them through without any regard for the democratic process.
“The whole affair has been one of misrepresentation of the facts to the public, the media and to the council itself. We live in a democratic society yet, some of those who we trust to carry out duties on our behalf have chosen to make decisions and disregard the wishes of the electorate.
“Labour councillors refused to share vital information with other elected members from other political parties who also represent this area or include them in the vital stages of the decision making process. Instead there has been a sustained approach by some Labour councillors and council officials to make unsupported claims both in council and through the media locally in an attempt to gain public and council support for their project.
“Elected members who behave in such a way should and must be held fully accountable for their actions, and whilst it would be inappropriate for me to pre-empt the findings of the Standard Commission investigation, I believe the evidence against those Councillors involved is pretty damning. We won’t put up with the bully boy tactics of the council any longer. We very much look forward to the outcome of the investigation.”
The other councillors who have been reported are:
Councillor Steven Purcell – Council Leader
Councillor James Coleman – Deputy Leader of the Council
Councillor Aileen Colleran – Council Business Manager
Councillor Stephen Curran – City Treasurer
Bailie Gordon Matheson – local councillor for Paddy’s Market
Bailie Hanzala Malik
Councillor Stephen Doran
Councillor Archie Graham
Councillor Ruth Simpson
Councillor Shaukat Butt
OMG!
Labour said they wanted a local candidate and to campaign on strictly local issues. (Giggles helplessly).
I've said in other posts that the regime leadership doesn't care in the least about elections. They prefer not to have them, but if they lose any that are held they are well-entrenched enough to ignore the results. Their parallel appointed consultative bodies are up and running.
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