The claim made by SNP Group Leader Chris McEleny on national radio on Friday morning that Councillor Vaughan Jones was forced out of the Labour Group is a down right lie.
Mrs Jones left the Labour Group entirely of her own volition and at no time has she claimed she was forced out by her former colleagues. The reason she gave for resigning from the Group was her unease at the political direction of the Labour Party.
At all times Labour Group members respected Mrs Jones position on the independence referendum. At no time did we put pressure on her to support the position of the other nine members of the Group.
Indeed we withdrew a motion that we had intended to submit to the full Council in support of Scotland remaining within the UK despite Mrs Jones indicating that she would vote for it although she was undecided at that time. We did not want Mrs Jones to be under any pressure to support a motion that she had reservations about.
When Mrs Jones went public with her support for independence her former colleagues at no time criticised her decision. When she started to publicly campaign for Yes - despite having told us privately she did not intend to do so - we said nothing. When she agreed to speak at the public meeting organised by another political party - the Scottish Socialist Party - again we said nothing.
Councillor McEleny should withdraw the unfounded allegation he has made against the Labour Group and issue a public apology to each and every one of us.
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