The Standards Commission has cleared former Angus Council leader Beth Whiteside of any wrongdoing over a “Hitler Street” reference during a heated debate around the renaming of a historic Kirriemuir close.
Monifieth and Sidlaw member Ms Whiteside made the comment during a council meeting in December 2023.
It came as councillors considered a petition to rename Cumberland Close in the heart of the town.
The call was prompted by anger over the historic link to the so-called ‘butcher of the Jacobite rebellion’, the Duke of Cumberland.
Councillors spent more than a year considering whether to change the street name.
They eventually rejected the idea in June last year. Around 75% of those who responded to a local consultation were against the change.
The issue was branded a “toxic” distraction for the cash-strapped authority.
‘Hitler Street’ reference during full council meeting
And it led to a Standards Commission complaint against Ms Whiteside four months after she clashed with a local businesswoman in Forfar Town and County Hall.
The full Angus Council meeting was broadcast live on the authority’s YouTube channel.
During the meeting, she said: “If the street was called Hitler Street do you think people would be fine with that – his crimes were on a par.”
The SNP councillor made a swift and public apology for the “clumsy” reference.
But she was reported to Scotland’s councillor watchdog.
Councillor says complaint was ‘spurious’
Following an investigation by the Ethical Standards Commissioner (ESC), the matter was referred to the Standards Commission last month.
It said the ESC had noted Ms Whiteside’s apology, and regret over the unplanned remark.
The Standards Commission said: “The ESC reported that, on balance, he did not consider the respondent minimised the Holocaust or the actions of Hitler.
“Instead, he was satisfied that she was simply trying to express an opinion that no one would want to live on a street named after someone responsible for “untold evil or genocide” and to express her distaste for the Duke of Cumberland, when putting forward a case for renaming the street.
“The ESC advised that he was of the view the respondent was expressing an opinion and that her remark was not particularly egregious in nature.”
The commissioner did not consider it broke the code requiring councillors to behave with ‘courtesy and respect’.
The Standards Commission has now closed the matter.
Councillor Whiteside said: “It was a spurious allegation and I’m glad the Standards Commission agreed.”
She became the authority’s first female leader in 2022, before stepping down unexpectedly from the role last year.
Her most recent senior appointment is as convener of the newly formed Angus housing committee.
Conversation