The SNP Group on Argyll and Bute Council has confirmed that it has expelled Councillor James Robb, who represents the Helensburgh Central ward.
Group leader Councillor Robert MacIntyre said: ‘Following a disciplinary hearing on Thursday 4thMarch, the Council’s SNP Group concluded that Councillor Robb had breached the Party’s standing orders.
‘Unfortunately, this was not the first such occasion and the Group agreed that it had no option but expulsion.
‘The situation is deeply regrettable. However, the Group members at the hearing were unanimous in the view that a parting of the ways was necessary to allow us to focus on our work within the Administration of the Council and for the people of Argyll and Bute’.
Councillor MacIntyre also indicated that as Councillor Robb has a right of appeal, it would not be appropriate to make any further statements on the matter.
(Update 8th March 14.30) Responding to his expulsion, Councillor Robb has issued the following statement:
‘I will still remain an SNP councillor representing the interests of the people of Helensburgh & Lomond.
‘I believed I was exercising my right to freedom of speech when I gave a prepared statement at a public meeting of Helensburgh Community Council. The SNP Council Group decided that this was a breach of Group Standing Orders and expelled me. This has allowed me to resign from the Coalition with the Alliance of Independent Councillors (AIC). Although I consider many Independent councillors as friends I have concerns over the lack of a coherent strategy within the AIC and the lack of effective scrutiny of Council decisions.
‘I will continue to work with my SNP colleagues on common interests, attending SNP Group meetings in my capacity as Secretary of Helensburgh SNP. Thus while still very much part of the Council I am now free to express my concerns and to hold the Council to account. I will continue to put the interests of the people first as I fight for a fairer Argyll & Bute.’
trouble & strife in the nationalist camp ,
meanwhile our roads crumble ,
our teachers are cut , class sizes rise , educational standards collapse , free school transport is savaged , school meals for some of the most vulnerable young children are only saved after a brilliant campaign by outraged parents , our grammar school is falling down ,
our historic council buildings are closed , even our public toilets are shut down .
hardly the new politics we were promised . more like an snp disaster for the people of Argyll + Bute .
snp councillors appear to be too busy backstabbing one another and pursuing petty rows about flags . The sooner the snp are swept from power in the council the better for us all
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where are the nats ? have they all fallen victim to the latest round of blood letting ? their parliamentary candidate must be distraught …………
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it appears the reason for the expulsion of the snp councillor was that he criticised his own party !
what kind of party is it when dissent is crushed in such a brutal manner ,yet snp councillors who fire ak47 rifles in front of children (Glasgow) and others who are involved in smearing opposition councillors (Dumfries) are allowed to continue?
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Still got three times as many councillors as the nearest challengers on the council.
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did you have to ask councillor ron simon’s permission to post here ? or is it just snp councillors in argyll and bute who have to do so before they can talk to the press ?
time for the rank and file to speak out i’d say
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As one of the rank and file I would like to have my say.
I wish Kintyre1 would take a run and jump of the end of the Campeltown pier with a ball and chain around his ankle.
I’m all for freedom of speech and the democratic process, but where Kintyre1 is concerned I get totally fed up with his insenate ( unreasoning, inanimate, foolish ) carping and blaming everything on the current Scottish Goverment.
My old gaffer had a saying ‘ Don’t moan and stay, moan and go’ and if you want directions, its straight down the M74 and keep going.
This new, better, progressive, Scottish doesn’t need people like you !
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FACT Cllr James Robb was not disciplined for criticising his own party
As this is subject to appeal the detail cannot be discussed prior to that but it is considered to be far less important than the renewal of Trident, Lord Ashcroft’s donations, the future of the SPT, the reselection of Anne Moffatt, MP, the trial of Jim Devine, MP, or the future of the Leader of Glasgow District Council.
I checked with the PPC for Argyll & Bute and he is quite relaxed as the election approaches.
It is now beginning to emerge that the contract for the two large Aircraft carriers that was leaked at the time of critical by elections in Scotland last year may be subject to cancellation as the country is even more broke than previously feared. Similarly the future of Trident itself -Britain’s Independent Nuclear Deterrent – and its renewal are also on the line because we are now challenging Greece and Iceland in the level of our indebtedness as a percentage of our gross Domestic product-the UK is now at -12.6% (this is a record!)
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fortunately those of us uninvolved with the local snp can discuss the civil war within it till we are content , however annoying for the likes of mark mccormack and his vision of scotland which to me looks like stalin’s ussr or hitler’s nazi germany – no dissent allowed .
councillor robb described argyll and bute council as being “like an upside down duck in a pond” a comment i suspect many in a&b would wholeheartedly agree with – too bad that the council is being run by the snp
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I have stopped reading the For Argyll site as much due to kintyre1′s inane comments.
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Leader of the Council Dick Walsh in the SNP? News to me.
All converts are welcome of course, but the majority on the council is an independent grouping.
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compassion and mercy for a mass murderer (megrahi) from the snp but expulsion for the helensburgh councillor – double standards
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Possibly the most inane comment yet.
It should be pointed out to the dememented contributor above that James Robb is not expelled and in fact remains an office bearer in the Helensburgh SNP.
He has how ever been suspended from the SNP council group and he has the right to appeal that
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and pray tell us why he has been suspended…?
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If you don’t know the reasons for James Robb’s suspension why are you pontificating on the matter?
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the lead article here reports that councillor robb was expelled on the unanimous decision of the snps other councillors .
expelled in my dictionary is defined as to drive out to eject to discharge in disgrace .
dave /david mcewan hill claims he is suspended from the snp council group but won’t say why and states he is still an snp officebearer
clearly the party is engaged in a full scale civil war with different factions offering different versions of events
councillor robb was hoping to have been selected as westminster candidate for inverclyde but has now lost out on the nomination .
his unpopularity with his snp colleagues no doubt explains why he was not chosen for argyll & bute , instead the poisoned chalice went to mr mckenzie who on his last exposure to the electorate of argyll & bute won less than 9% of the vote
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I had better put this in simple terms
Mr Robb has been expelled from the SNP Council Group for refusing to follow group decisions. Mr Robb has not been expelled from the SNP Helensburgh Branch which is a different organisation to the council group
Mr Robb is an office bearer in the Helensburgh SNP Branch and has not disagreed with it.
Is that simple enough?
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