We understand from authoritative sources that Argyll and Bute Council plans to discontinue the Campbeltown Ring and Ride service for the vulnerable before this Christmas.
For this reason, it could not be more important that Kintyre folk continue to sign the petition to see this service retained.
The dumping of this support to those whose lives are already much reduced in quality by the lottery of being, has been accompanied by much self-serving political manoevering.
South Kintyre Councillor and member of the council’s executive, Rory Colville, a compliant party to this decision, attempted to try to justify his actions to his constituents by sending a circular letter to every person who had, at his time of writing, signed the petition to save Ring and Ride.
Something of the order of 300 letters were sent out – again with public expenditure used for personal benefit.
Councillor Colville has already been proven to be motivated by self-interest and to be happy for the cost of that to be borne by whoever, however needy.
He and Councillor Robin Currie of Islay were – by a last minute change of their voting intentions for direct personal and political gain – centrally responsible for the council’s narrow vote of 19-17 on 25th October 2010, to try to put 25 rural primary schools to the torch.
By privately sending a circular letter to the signatories of the petition, he neatly avoided exposing to the interrogation of his fellow South Kintyre councillors, his defence of his actions in supporting the cutting of Ring and Ride.
Councillors John Semple of the SNP and Councillor Donald Kelly of Argyll First are not only members of the opposition but have doughty track records in fighting to protect the interests of those who cannot speak for themselves and are in need of champions.
This is a council administration prepared to do anything and spend anything – even today – to ensure that it gets back into power.
Supporters of the campaign to save the Ring and Ride service could therefore do a lot worse than make their determination publicly known by signing the petition in numbers.
In the end, now and next May, voters will judge candidates not by what they say but by what they have done and by what they have tried to do.
Councillors Colville and Currie are particularly damaged goods in reneged on firm commitments given to their constituents – because it suited them and their party. The LibDems joined the ruling coalition and the two willing vote-changers were given paid posts as senior councillors. Southend School in Kintyre and Keills School in Islay came then no nearer to weighing in the balance than the needy served, for the time being, by Ring and Ride do today.
You refer to Councillor Donald Kelly as being “of Argyll First “. You may well be correct , my understanding is that Donald Kelly was elected as a Scottish Conservative and Unionist .
Many will be interested to see which label Donald Kelly chooses for the May elections .
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Sometimes, kintyre1, the track record of a politician says far more about them than their ‘label’ does.
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Donald is, first and foremost, himself. I don’t always agree with him but he’s open and straightforward and would admit to being a Conservative and Unionist who is also a member of Argyll First. The latter are not mutually exclusive.
Didn’t we chew this one over before?
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As we understand it, Argyll First is a group with a policy of putting the interests of Argyll first in any decisions its members make on what they support or oppose and on which way they vote.
This means – and we understand it to be explicit – that wherever any members cast their personal vote in elections, party and personal interests are not part of the criteria that determine their actions and their voting within the council.
Councillor Kelly is openly Conservative in personal terms – an is often with Jamie McGrigor, the Conservative Highlands and Islands MSP, on his engagements in Argyll.
But there is nothing inconsistent between this and Councillor Kelly’s commitment to putting Argyll First above all other considerations in what, along with his fellow group members, he does, in council business.
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Dear all to assist in clarifying the situation re Kintyre1 and Cllr Donald Kelly.
On the 1st June 2011 the For Argyll Web site published an article “Argyll First ready to recruit like minded Candidates for 2012 elections” in the article the following was stated by Argyll First The Group
“The Argyll First Group is a non aligned group providing independent and constructive scrutiny of council decisions within Argyll and Bute Council.
It is open to membership of any elected councillor within the Argyll and Bute constituency area irrespective of political persuasions. There is no pre-requisite to resign from political parties only a desire to serve the population of Argyll and Bute as an elected member.”
I took the trouble to use the For Argyll search engine to see if Kintyre1 was looking at the web site in June 2011. At 9.27pm on June 1st Kintyre1 made a post on the article “Moritorium on school closures create a score draw for Argyll and Bute Council.” Perhaps i could suggest that before Kintyre1 continues to pose questions about Argyll First you should also use the very helpful search engine on the For Argyll web site to assertain facts before posing questions which have already been posted or it may be that you did not read the article on the 1st June, only you will know.
Leader Argyll First
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It’s a shame Councillor Kelly does not get to speak for himself . My understanding of the situation is that you Councillor Philand previously stood as a Labour candidate , are you still a socialist ?
I also understand Councillor McAlpine was previously a SNP candidate . Does he still support a separate Scotland ?
My concern , as yet unanswered , is how someone elected as a Conservative and Unionist can sit comfortably with a nationalist and a socialist and come to a mutual position on a range of issues . For example new Scottish Conservative and Unionist Leader Ruth Davidson has said she wants to see the local authority monopoly on providing state education ended and for example The Church of Scotland allowed to set up schools . Presumably local Conservatives support such an initiative , do Councillors Philand and McAlpine ? Does Councillor Kelly for that matter ?
Why does he not join with the rest of the Conservative and Unionist group ? Didn’t he used to lead it ?
I cannot see how such a wide diversity of view can be sustained in one group .
Many here have called for clarity from councillors on their views and the direction they want our Council to take from 2012 onwards . I look forward to some answers from the members of Argyll First on the direction they see things going .
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kintyre1 seems to think of everything solely in terms of party politics. I must admit that I used to think that party politics were an irrelevant distraction at local government level. Given the grubby behaviour of some of our so-called ‘independent’ politicians in the way they’ve ganged up to administer – or rather manipulate – Argyll & Bute council, I’ve had to revise my opinions, but I still think that a lot of national party policies are not useful in runnoing a local authority, and that the political colour of a local councillor indicates their national politics but does not always indicate the policies that they believe best serve their constituents. I also believe that at local government level people are much more likely to vote for a personality rather than a party; this runs the risk of electing people who have no policies other than furthering their own narrow personal interests, but the electorate should learn from its past mistakes and take care next spring to vote for people of integrity.
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Strangely, I was making the same point to Pat Watters (COSLA’s President) on Thursday night: most of the policy and decisions made at the level of local government require common sense rather than party political ideology. Indeed it is quite difficult to think of many local government issues that break cleanly along party lines.
However, Mr Watters made the interesting and valid point that party political groups differ considerably in their effectiveness and this is much more important than their party policies. Coming from an old Labour man, it was interesting to hear his admiration for the discipline of SNP local authority groups (as it was a private conversation I won’t relate what he thought of other political and independent groups of councillors!).
Voting for a councillor who is in a party should give the voter the comfort that the councillor will adhere to the code of conduct of that party and be subject to the party’s discipline. However, of course, this is somewhat diluted by councillors who stand on a party slate then become “independent” shortly after being elected (as a perhaps surprising number in Argyll have). I don’t condemn those who do (there are often good reasons for their actions) but it is regrettable.
As to Kintyre1′s view that a socialist, a nationalist and a Tory cannot possibly work together (it does sound a bit like the start of a joke), he just has to look at the schools campaign where we saw the unlikely tag team of Russell, McGrigor and Baillie working hand in hand to defeat the Council’s proposals.
Scotland is a small country and we Scots are few in number. We tend to have far more in common with each other than we have genuine differences. As with religion, sometimes parties with few ideological differences generate the most friction between them. But the hope is that all politicians are smart enough to identify the common weal and act upon it.
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I very much admired Russell, McGrigor and Baillie for their ability to work together. Our opposition councillors seem able to do the same and it is much to their credit.
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For Kintyre 1: If these are or were the personal political affiliations of the founder members of Argyll First, it proves they mean exactly what they say – because we have all seen how unified and how consistent in their judgment these councillors are. Yet, if you are right, they pretty well cover the spectrum of politics – without any trouble or disagreement. Rather than undermining them, this information stands to their substantial credit.
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The crux of this is not what party people used to or still belong to. What’s important is that, as with the schools issue, they have identified an issue or issues on which they can co-operate. Some things are quite simply precious and, while they have core policies they should and must stick to, political parties may recognise the value of a thing and achieve consensus on it. I fail to see any problem with that.
I have in my time knocked a great many doors and spoken to voters. The strong message from those voters is that they wish their politicians would drop what they see as party politics, be honest, co-operative, sensible and get on with the job in hand. This is what’s happening in Argyll & Bute. The opposition parties and players are united and working together to defend what’s most important. Take your hat off to them kintyre1. They’re doing exactly what the voters asked them to do.
Meanwhile the high handed administration councillors are convinced that they’re smarter than everyone else and know best how to steer through this recession. They see no need to listen, but instead send out letters to explain why they’re right. We’ll see in May 2012 what the voters think of that. Argyll & Bute’s communities are close knit and ẁell-informed and I’d place bets that most of them know exactly where the cuts actually have to be made.
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For kintrye1,
My understanding is Councillor McAlpine stood as a Conservative candidate but was not successful, then stood as an Independant when elected, he is a well liked and respected councillor in his ward for his support for rural schools.
I have never heard him advocating either for or against Independence.
What is the defination and in what context do the Unionist’s mean in their use of “separate” in their opposition to the will of the Scottish people if thay vote for Independence.
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I don’t reckon there is any definition that they can give. It is simply ANTI everything that the elected government say!
Independence sticks in Kintyre’s throat.He needs a guid cough!
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John, your understanding is wrong in my opinion .
John McAlpine has never stood as a Conservative candidate . I am convinced he has stood as a SNP .
Councillor Philand or Councillor McAlpine will no doubt tell us which one of us is correct .
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Well come on then guys – let us know who stood for what and when??
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I would love to know why councillor Devon jumped ship twice
we could maybe make a film of it.
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Youre right Neil. She will be grilled by the elctorate come Mays’ election. You can respect oppsing political views to an extent but forever changong colours is harder to stomach. The SNP used their (temporary) flag of convenience for her and their short term benefit but cant see her retaining the faith of the voters. Its not as if she woke up one morning and seen the light as she has been very well aware of who stands for what , over many years.
The snp will be the biggest party come may and in many repects are desrving of that. Mary Devon was never going to be more than a vote over a few months and (sadly) she will be the loser. But hey thats politics and politicians for you!
Watch this space for ‘argyll first’ expanding.
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Having already directed Kintyre1 to a published article re the aims and objectives of the Argyll First group on 1st June 2011 it is clear that you base your statements without any foundation or evidence nor even affording the courtesy of looking at the article you have been suggested to look at, if you had you would have noticed we as Argyll First have openly published our Aims and objectives and are the only group on the council who have done so and to assist you with this evidence here they are.
Aims
•To represent to views of constituents within Argyll and Bute
•To abolish the executive committee and give all elected members equal say in the affairs of Argyll and Bute Council with the executive powers being delegated to the full council meetings.
•To give Area Committees more delegated powers.
•To abolish the Central Planning Committee and reinstate planning decisions to the Area Committees.
•To ensure that all councillors have all papers for meetings at the same time and that prior access is not given to executive or senior councillors.
•To ensure that Local Area Planning Groups are scrutinised for effectiveness.
Objectives
•To provide educational, social and cultural activities
•To see practical projects that enhances the local environment and neighbourhood
•To promote the efficient use of energy and good environmental practices, such as re-cycling, and composting.
•To be pro-active in maintaining good relations between all members of the community.
•To strive to represent all the members of the community, avoiding any form of discrimination.
•To promote and support the social and health needs of the residents of Argyll and Bute
Membership
•Membership shall be open to all elected Local Councillors and joining will be by mutual agreement.
•All members shall have an equal vote.
•All members should actively seek to represent the various needs of their area, and must not discriminate on the grounds of ethnicity, political opinion, race, religious opinion, sex, sexuality or disability.
•Members shall at all times conduct themselves in a reasonable manner when attending meetings or any other function in connection with the Group.
•All members will have a free vote in any matter that comes before the council without exception.
•The group’s Leader and Deputy Leader will be chosen by the majority vote of the Group
•All members of the group will abide by the Councillors Code of Conduct.
Secondly Cllr Kelly is more than able to talk for himself and is demonstrated by the article we are currently on, we call this collaboration where we are happy that we work as a group and everyone is aware of what’s going on and not necessarily always agree as we have voted for different things in the chamber on the same subject. And lastly if you follow the national party’s line of thinking and policy perhaps you can explain to the readers why Conservative and Unionist MSP Jamie McGrigor advocated for the retention of local schools during the school estate review and his 2 Conservative colleagues Cllr Mulvaney and Cllr Kinniburgh on the council voted against this, perhaps that’s called democracy.
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A sound constitution which you have adhered to and i do like the fact that you have not taken on anyone else in the interm.
I would think your success will continue come May elections.
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Still no word on Councillor McAlpine’s past political affiliation . I take that as confirmation that he did indeed stand as a SNP candidate .
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kintyre1: I think it’s time someone told you the facts of life; no humans are born fully formed and already politicised (were you?) – much as this might distress you, and the truth is that people as they evolve tend to acquire and discard different political views as time goes on, disillusion kicks in, and they steadily become older and wiser. Anyone that pops out of the womb as a card carrying political activist, hits the ground running and is still heading in the same direction in their old age is probably brain dead. The trouble is, that probably doesn’t disqualify them from membership of the Argyll & Bute political elite.
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Councillor Philand what was the outcome of your F.O.I. on the council involvement with the George Berry radio show in Oban.
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Hi Folks, Delighted to inform you that the FOI, requested by Neil MacIntyre, has to be released within 21 days. That is now official. I only hope that both Argyll & Bute Council and their executive do not try to say that the e-mail sent to Oban FM was authorised by them as both Neil & I know through conact with other councillors and officials of Argyll & Bute Council that the e-mail was not authorised by any official body within the council. This e-mail was the action of one counccillor. The e-mail had already been “cut & pasted” before I received it. On release of the FOI requested by Neil MacIntyre the perpetrator of the e-mail should be removed from his/her position immediately as they are trusted representatives of the public and as such have failed their constituents.
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This might only be me but do you think councillor Philand is ignoring my question.He might not of been back on line since my post so we have to give him the benefit of the doubt.Personally I like to check on the craic every day but after that very impressive display of the Argyll First constitution especially maintaining good relations with the community the least you would expect is an answer.
Argyll First surely have nothing to hide and will be open and honest you will not want to start down the same road as tricky Dicky and his flock of sheep.
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I’m still waiting to hear which party Councillor McAlpine stood for in previous council elections .
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Why don’t you just ring Cllr McAlpine and ask him?
He has provided his contact details freely here
http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/councillors/john-mcalpine
Not so tough is it.
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Do you not think the time for all this intrigue will be the council elections next year? lets just make sure there are plenty of public meetings so that they can be asked face to face for everyone’s benefit.
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Why do For Argyll not call Councillor McAlpine and report the answer here , as some will be doubtful of the answer i report .
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kintyre1 – is it possible that you’re flogging a dead horse? maybe the rest of the world is less interested in the question of a councillor’s party political track record than on their actual track record, and you’d surely be doing us all a favour if you pursued your ‘search for the truth’ on your own account, rather than expecting someone else to do the digging.
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So, some 28 responses later – including some from local Councillors – it would appear that no one has anything much to say on the alleged* plans to discontinue the Campbeltown Ring and Ride service.
* Alleged because the article starts off with the common sloppy ‘Newsieisum’ – “We understand from authoritative sources…. “.Regular readers will understand that the phrase”We understand from authoritative sources” roughly translated means ‘this article may or may not be true but since it gives us the opportunity to put the boot into the Council again the accuracy or otherwise of the article is really immaterial’.
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For Neil MacIntyre, my apologies for not getting back sooner,the info I got from the council was inconclusive and opposition councillors requested internal enquiry which is ongoing.
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Councillor Philand
Thanks for your reply it will be interesting to see what answer I get from my F.O.I. on this same matter.
The email from Jo Smith the Comunications manager was sent in early August so give or take a couple of minutes to ask
the name of the councillor and what his problem was with George and the programme why do we not have the straight forward answers to these questions nearly four months later
If they think we are going away on this they better think again I will forward your reply along with mine to Alan Reid
as he asked me to keep him up to date with any developments
when I went to see him.
Sadly other councillors know who it is but they would rather hide.
We will be very well organized on the lead up to the elections then they will have to explain to local people why
they supported this councillor.
Keep watching Oban it will be entertaining.
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Councillor Philand , what label will you be standing under in May’s council election ?
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Why does it matter so much to you kintyre1? I’ve joined a party but I’m prepared to believe there are good people in every party and I’ve known and worked with some of them. The same is true for people who are in no party at all. Cllr Philand is one of the best I’ve worked with – open, clever, filled with common sense and fun to boot – and though I disagree with him on one or two things I can’t think either of us would have a bad thing to say about the other as we do share common respect and courtesy.
How is this doggedly tribal attitude useful?
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I have searched our records and can find no trace of John McAlpine as a member, past or present, of the Scottish National Party or as an SNP candidate.Whether or not he supports Scottish independence is something only he can answer.
Is it possible that kintyre1 is wrong yet again?
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Why don’t you ring him and ask Ken ?
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