A TORY councillor who is alleged to have called a community councillor a “moaning woman” has been reported to the standards commissioner.
The Scottish Borders Council member for East Berwickshire, Jim Fullarton, has been formally reported to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland after an incident at an Eyemouth Community Council meeting in January last year. Minutes state chairman James Anderson had to ask Fullarton to “lower his voice and stop repeatedly banging his fists on the table”.
The community council’s AGM minuted that “after an admission to his actions Jim Fullarton has not apologised to anyone for his actions of hitting tables and shouting uncontrollably. We offered one last chance for him to apologise and it wasn’t taken.”
Anderson told the Southern Reporter: “He’d been asked for two years to look into complaints received by the community council about Berwickshire Housing Association.
“At the meeting, we asked him ‘have you been in touch with them?’ and he admitted he hadn’t. He started arguing with Jan Weeks and Lucy Anderson. He started jumping forward and punching the table in front of Jan. I shouted at him, and he stopped. He banged the table with both hands and started aiming in my direction and looking towards me because Jan was behind me. He called Jan a ‘moaning woman’.”
Fullarton had not replied to The National by the time we went to press. He told the Souther Reporter: “This case is currently under examination, so I am unable to comment at this stage.”
The council said: “This is a matter for the Commissioner.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here