Glasgow City Council’s depute leader slams online trolls over Rangers FC fan zone row

Both council leader Susan Aitken and her deputy have been cleared by the Standards Commissioner of intervening in a decision to refuse Rangers FC a fan zone on Glasgow Life pitches at Ibrox.

Councillors Aitken and McDonald have now been fully exonerated by the Standards Commission of complaints of footballing bias from political opponents.

Speaking about these complaints, councillor McDonald who is also the chairman of Glasgow Life, said: “After a full and thorough investigation, the Ethical Standards Commissioner has confirmed that there was no basis or truth to the false allegations made against me in relation to decisions made about the Ibrox Fan Zone in 2018.

“These fabricated claims which were recklessly echoed by other Glasgow politicians, led to sustained, vitriolic abuse.

“Social media can be a dangerous place and words have consequences. Consequences that limited my life and my ability to carry out my duties for a period of time.”

The row was exacerbated when Tory MSP Adam Tomkins appeared to imply that some sort of bias may have been at play in the decision to deny the Rangers FC fan zone.

In a widely reported letter to the council’s leadership, Mr Tomkins said: “I would strongly urge you to engage with your SNP colleagues on Glasgow City Council to ensure that due process has been followed in this instance and that the outcome was neither partisan nor one-sided.”

Following the Standard Commissioner’s decision Mr McDonald also said that online hatred and abuse had to end.

He thanked his family, friends and colleagues for standing by him through this difficult time and said he looked forward to continuing his work as a councillor representing his constituents.

He added: “Several of my council colleagues have also found themselves at the centre of a targeted campaign of online harassment related to these and similar claims.

“This appears to be an orchestrated effort to smear and harass dedicated elected members based on assumptions about their footballing allegiances, even when none exist. This must end now.

“Hopefully all those who thought it wise to make and share these false claims think twice before doing it again.

“It has obviously been a stressful time for me, my family, friends and party colleagues, particularly councillor Susan Aitken who also suffered from a horrendous level of abuse, yet remained committed and focused to her task of leading the council and delivering for the people of Glasgow.

“My family, made up of both Celtic and Rangers supporters, helped me to get over the mindless sectarian slurs aimed at me on a nearly daily basis and they too also had to live with abuse. They stood with me during the worst of the onslaught and I cannot thank them enough for their support.

“Glasgow is a football city, it’s in our DNA.

“So I’m now looking forward to leaving it all in the past and getting on with doing the job I love of representing my city, my constituents in Greater Pollok and making sure the city is ready to welcome football fans from across Europe for an amazing summer of football as Glasgow welcomes UEFA Euro 2020 to Hampden.”