Dear All
And the sh*t just keeps on coming.
An SNP politician is to be reported to the standards watchdog for failing to declare an interest when she blocked an ambitious Scottish Enterprise project designed to create jobs and attract millions of pounds of investment.
The complaint is against SNP Councillor Anthea Dickson.
What makes the complaint interesting for the Standards Commission and the general public is money, lots of money.
She is listed as the company secretary of a firm which owns a nearby plot of land that has planning permission for 47 houses and has been put on the market for offers of more than £850,000.
For the Scottish National Party, this look very ‘Tartan Tory’ on the campaign trail.
It is alleged that she was the driving force behind a council decision that has thwarted the economic quango’s plan to regenerate a derelict steelworks in Ayrshire.
As a bystander, questions should be asked, did she declare an interest and did she vote against the project.
If she didn’t declare an interest, then she should be in serious trouble in the party.
The prospect of Dickson facing an investigation is another blow to Alex Salmond.
As I blogged on before below Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon there is a genuine lack of talent.
I should qualify that by saying I am have missed out some talented people but I am making a genuine point.
Last week saw Lanarkshire SNP candidate Lyall Duff quit the party after describing two Catholic midwives as “money-grabbing old witches”.
Anyway, it appears that Dickson tabled a motion, which was passed at a North Ayrshire Council committee meeting last month.
According to the council minutes, Dickson, who is standing in Kilbirnie and Beith next month, did not declare an interest.
This warrants suspension unquestionably, the SNP have to been seen in public office as doing the right thing.
Dickson’s husband Alan Dickson is also listed as director of Kilbirnie Land Ltd.
His take on why she did not have to declare an interest is because the company is in administration and she does not stand to make money if the land is sold.
That is so weak as to be unbelievably stupid.
The question is not that she may or may not make any money but her lack of transparency which questions her suitability for public office.
It looks sleazy and the SNP need to show that they are following the letter and the spirit of the law, in fact, the whole alphabet.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
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