8 hours ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
The verdict on Cammy Day: little in this sordid affair surprised me
But that did not mean Cllr Day had no case to answer, that complaints against him were fabricated, that Cllr Day's alleged behaviour fell below the standard expected of a civic figurehead, or that safeguards for complainants do not need to be improved. Like the charges against the late Alex Salmond, it is entirely possible for allegations to have some substance - why else did Mr Salmond admit to being 'no angel' who indulged in 'sleepy cuddles' in his bedroom with a female colleague who was not Mrs Salmond - and for there to be a political conspiracy at the same time? One does not necessarily exclude or indeed excuse the other, especially when a personal weakness becomes a political opportunity.
But the debate on the Dunion Report split very much along those lines, with the SNP and Greens in denial that politics had played any part in how the allegations came to light, when each one of them either knew it did or had been living on Bass Rock for the last six months. Worse, any attempt to shed any political light on what happened was portrayed as victim-shaming and extending ordeals.
If politics and allegations of leaks of confidential information about the complaints to the Press had anything to do with the absence of Cllr Day's former coalition partner and ex-council leader, the SNP's Adam Nols-McVey, no-one was saying. This is the same Cllr Nols-McVey who failed to inform the Chief Executive, the monitoring officer, or indeed the Standards Commission, when he received a serious complaint about Cllr Day, then his deputy coalition leader, in 2018. And it's the same Cllr Nols-McVey who never missed an opportunity to attack me in council meetings with quite sickening innuendo when I was under investigation - and subsequently cleared - by the Standards Commission for doing nothing more than asking difficult questions.
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No, it was nothing to do with politics when new complaints made through the council's supposedly confidential whistleblowing system, and a subsequent report, then appeared in newspapers at the end of last year.
And no, when the SNP amendment said, 'disclosures were met, in some instances, with dismissiveness or minimisation by some councillors, including being labelled as 'gossip' or 'salacious', contributing to a culture of silence and power imbalance,' it was not referring to Cllr Nols-McVey's obvious failure to escalate the 2018 complaint.
And when the SNP agreed with the Greens' amendment that 'Elected Members undertaking public duties should be held to higher standards than simple criminality,' it presumably did not apply to what appears to have been little more than a chat between Cllr Nols-McVey and a police officer about the complaint in 2018.
It was no surprise that Cllr Day was not there to hear what little remains of his reputation being ripped to shreds, and it's impossible to see how a plan, wisely withdrawn earlier in the week, for the Labour administration to propose Cllr Day as convener of the planning committee can come off. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to try to vote in someone to a promoted post, which comes with a £14,000 a year pay rise, just as they were about to be eviscerated in the next agenda item is beyond me. At least advice was heeded, but the Labour group should be in no doubt that any attempt at the next full council meeting in August to propose Cllr Day for such a key position could end in ignominious failure and possibly the collapse of the administration.
Just because his behaviour has not crossed a criminal threshold, that Cllr Day has been readmitted to the Labour Party, or that there was a political motive behind the attempt to destroy him publicly, does not mean all councillors other than the SNP and Greens are willing to give him a clean bill of reputational health.
Edinburgh City Chambers (Image: Newsquest)
It certainly does not apply to serial Labour rebel Katria Faccenda who in an emotional speech said the affair had 'broken her heart' and made it clear she would not welcome Cllr Day's return, saying she was unable to attend meetings with Cllr Day present because she feared for her safety. However hyperbolic that claim may be, she was not far off the mark with her assertion that the council is in a 'position of ethical crisis,' but this is not news and there are more than a few of us, and not all from the opposition ranks, who have been saying this for years.
For evidence, ask the now retired education officers John and Deirdre Travers why it took them 20 years to be compensated for the appalling campaign of abuse and intimidation they suffered for blowing the whistle on institutional corruption at the highest levels. Or the people whose evidence of disgraceful practices was ignored by the 2021 inquiry into the council's whistleblowing culture.
He might not quit, but readmitted to the Labour Party or not, it's hard to see how Cllr Day can carry on after the 2027 election. Little in this whole sordid affair surprised me, and if the council is to move on, then so too should some other significant individuals who have been there too long. Councillors can call for as many reports and new procedures as they want, but when fresh new voices defend, ignore or even lie about the actions of those who have come to regard power as an entitlement, absolutely nothing will change.
