Club 1872 Letter to Councillor Susan Aitken

[ian1964 10,724]

Club 1872 has today written to Glasgow City Council Leader, Susan Aitken, regarding press reports of her comments in a closed Facebook group for Glasgow SNP councillors.

A copy of the letter is below and we look forward to receiving a timely reply from Councillor Aitken to what we consider to be a very serious matter.

“Dear Councillor Aitken,

I am writing to you on behalf of Club 1872, a Rangers supporters group with over 7000 members and the second largest shareholder in Rangers International Football Club PLC, regarding comments you made in a closed Facebook group (Glasgow City SNP Councillors) which have been the subject of recent press reports.

As you may be aware, we have submitted a Freedom of Information request in the past few days for everything posted in that group relating to Rangers FC and Club 1872. It appears that the group was being used to discuss council business that should have been subject to our previous FOI enquiry, but no posts from that group were included in the response to our previous request.

What we know already is that you used the group to ask fellow SNP Councillors to share a photograph of Labour Councillor, Frank McAveety attending a match at Ibrox in 2015. This appears to be in response to comments made by Mr McAveety about your role in denying Rangers the opportunity to host a Fanzone at Ibrox in 2018.

Can you clarify why you believed this photo to be relevant to those matters and explain why you felt it appropriate to ask SNP Councillors to share this information publicly? Is it your belief that Mr McAveety’s attendance at Ibrox should be portrayed in a negative light? If so, perhaps you can explain why? Many elected officials attend sporting events throughout Glasgow and it is disturbing that you appear to believe that attendance at Ibrox is something which should be frowned upon.

Mr McAveety is a well known Celtic supporter, and therefore any suggestion that he attended the match at Ibrox to gain favour from Rangers, or vice versa, would be ridiculous. Your decision to focus on this one event appears to have been motivated by a desire to cast doubt on Mr McAveety’s legitimate criticisms and divert attention from questions about your own conduct where Rangers Football Club is concerned.

Rangers Football Club is a major employer in Glasgow and works extensively to positively support communities in Govan, Glasgow and throughout Scotland. The many thousands of Rangers supporters who live in the Glasgow area should be able to rely on elected officials to treat them and their football club fairly at all times. Furthermore, those in public life who question conduct that appears to be unfair or discriminatory should be able to do so freely without being smeared in an attempt to discredit their input.

Yours sincerely,

Laura Fawkes

Club 1872 Director

On behalf of the Club 1872 board”

Issued by Supporters Voice Limited, a Club 1872 company

 

http://club1872.co.uk/news/club-1872-letter-to-councillor-susan-aitken/

Edited May 4, 2019 by ian1964

[Thinker 887]

Beautiful.

[Scott7 6,011]

Excellent. No bombast. No hysterics. Hard to wriggle away from that.

[Gaffer 1,665]

1 minute ago, Scott7 said:

Excellent. No bombast. No hysterics. Hard to wriggle away from that.

You're right Scott, but somehow I think she will not have to wriggle too much to escape punishment.  I hope I'm wrong.

[Gonzo79 15,294]

The mainstream narrative is that Rangers fans are all nasty bigots, without an ounce of decency.

 

Aitken's antics will be chippy wrappers next week and that'll be that.

 

All we can hope is that voters vote for representatives who represent them, rather than snidey nonentities. 

Edited May 4, 2019 by Gonzo79

[Bill 13,717]

5 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

All we can hope is that voters vote for representatives who represent them, rather than snidey nonentities. 

I think the snide nonentities will probably vote for them anyway. ?

[pete 2,499]

Fate of Susan Aitken to be decided at an emergency meeting of the SNP to be held next Tuesday

The SNP Glasgow councillors group will meet next Tuesday to decide the fate of Council Leader Susan Aitken.

The signs are not good for her despite her previously strong position - mostly due to her being part of Nichola Sturgeon’s magic circle.

A leaked screen-grab of a plot hatched on a secret SNP councillors Facebook page to smear Labour leader Frank McAveety has caused other councillors to seek action. Additionally, her seeming interaction with Humza Yusuf outside of various ministerial and local authority codes of conduct is also undermining her.

Last week at an informal SNP councillors group meeting and at the SNP Glasgow Regional Association she was under attack from colleagues. It can be summed up by one moderate councillor’s comments which can be summarised this - ‘I didn’t join the SNP to have my days filled with rubbish about Rangers, the Orange Order and the IRA.’ Aitken’s obsessions are coming home to roost.

Interestingly the attacks are coming from all sides of the SNP - Aitken has a key “payroll vote” chunk of support from councillors looking for advancement within the council and the SNP, they tend to be younger and more extreme in their politics. Even one of those younger councillors is now openly lobbying against her.