Glasgow's Golden Goodbyes Scandal
The Times had an astonishing report the other day about a Glasgow councillor, Fiona Higgins, who has been reported to the office of the Ethical Standards Commissioner.
Cllr Higgins criticised the City Council over cuts in teaching posts and has also spoken out about the 'golden goodbye' payments, worth more than £1 million, to senior officials which she said had eroded public trust in local democracy.
Council leader, Cllr Susan Aitken, says she was misled by the officials involved, but how could she not have realised something strange, even dubious, was going on given that her CEO and senior management team were all seeking to leave office at the same time?
I agree with Cllr Higgins.
The whole business stinks to high heaven - there should be an independent inquiry to establish exactly what happened and why there was no proper scrutiny or oversight from the council's elected members.
Paul McManus performs with Gun and runs a recording studio in Glasgow - ANDREW MACCOLL/SHUTTERSTOCK
The multimillionaire is funding the defence of Fiona Higgins, who revealed that 450 teaching posts are being surreptitiously removed by Glasgow council
A multimillionaire rock star is to bankroll legal efforts to defend a councillor who accused senior officials of attempting to “wilfully and cynically mislead” elected members over teacher cuts.
The Labour councillor Fiona Higgins was reported to the office of the Ethical Standards Commissioner after she insisted that Glasgow’s SNP-led administration had failed to be honest about the removal of 450 teaching posts in the city over three years.
Glasgow city council’s legal team urged Higgins, a former teacher, to remove comments she had posted online but she refused, insisting her “first duty is to the citizens of Glasgow”.
Fiona Higgins refused to retract her comments on Glasgow council’s education cuts
Paul McManus, a businessman and the drummer with the Scottish rock band Gun, has announced he will fund legal efforts to clear her name.
“If Glasgow council want a fight, they’ve got one,” he said.
“We need more local politicians like Fiona Higgins who will keep their constituents fully up to speed with what is going on and that is why I will pay for her legal expenses, including fees for an eminent KC.
“When I heard that she had been reported after speaking out about education cuts I had no hesitation in putting my team together.”
Andy Carr, Tommy Gentry, Dante Gizzi, Jools Gizzi and Paul McManus formed the rock band in 1987 - KEVIN NIXON/FUTURE PUBLISHING/GETTY IMAGES
He added: “Fiona was a teacher in one of the poorer areas of Glasgow, so I believe she might know a hell of a lot more about the subject than 99 per cent of those at the council.”
Professor Peter Watson, the Glasgow-based solicitor advocate, has agreed to act on Higgins’ behalf.
Jack Irvine, the public relations executive, has also offered his services to the opposition councillor.
“I got a call from a well-known freedom of information campaigner who said she was appalled at the way Fiona was being treated by the council and asked if I could help,” Irvine said.
“I immediately rounded up my two friends, Paul McManus and Professor Peter Watson, and we quickly took up Fiona’s case.”
After refusing to retract her comments on education cuts, Higgins described the payment of “golden goodbyes”, worth more than £1 million, to senior officials in Glasgow as a scandal which had eroded public trust in local democracy.
Susan Aitken, the council leader, said she was “personally misled” and urged the remaining top officials to return their payouts.
Higgins with the fellow Labour councillors Malcolm Cumming and Robert Mooney - JANE BARLOW/PA/ALAMY
In relation to Higgins’ allegation that the authority misled elected officials, a council spokeswoman said: “Officers were following due process in relation to the budget and it is inaccurate to suggest otherwise.”
McManus, who has donated more than £250,000 to Scottish Labour, gave £100,000 towards a legal challenge against the introduction of the Low Emission Zone in Glasgow.
He described the anti-pollution measure as “ticking woke boxes” and a “cynical stealth tax”.
Despite his contribution, the Court of Session in Edinburgh dismissed a petition brought by William Paton, the director of Patons Accident Repair Centre in Townhead, challenging the legality of the scheme.
McManus, who continues to tour with Gun, has recently bought Baroness Mone’s home in the West End of Glasgow and operates a recording studio in the city.
