A SCOTTISH Tory council leader has been mocked after admitting she does not “understand 100% everything that goes on in the council”.
Gillian Owen, the Conservative head of Aberdeenshire Council, made the “clueless” comment during an interview with the Press and Journal.
Owen, who represents the Ellon and District ward for the Tories, was pressed on parents’ concerns that speech and language therapists would no longer be in local schools due to funding cuts.
She insisted that the provision of speech and language therapists is down to NHS Grampian, not Aberdeenshire Council, and that the cuts were only of an “enhancement of what was actually in place” from the NHS.
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Owen was further pushed on why parents believed that language therapists would be cut from schools if it weren’t the case. She suggested it was a breakdown in communications as well as “a lot of scaremongering”.
The Tory group leader was further asked if it was unfair for parents to have concerns that councillors didn’t understand the important role of speech therapists.
She replied: “Well, probably not.
“I don’t understand 100% everything that goes on in the council.”
The admission has been called out by activists in the north east, saying it shows the Tories are “clueless”.
Luke Buchan, the head of media at the Aberdeen Independence Movement (AIM), said: "I am not surprised by the Tory council leader’s comment, they don’t have a clue what's going on.
“The Tory council’s heads are buried in their own agendas, disconnected from the real issues of people across Aberdeenshire, it's no wonder the Tories are perpetually clueless.”
He went on: “Just when you think the Tory council administration couldn't fumble any worse than they already have: remember last month when they slashed funding for our vital community services while splurging on unnecessary corporate ventures?
“That’s the Tory party way of governing – they are completely blind to the needs of people in Scotland, deaf to reason, and they're dumbfounded by their own incompetence."
Approached for comment, Aberdeenshire Council said Owen was on annual leave.
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