Independent Angus councillors have moved to distance themselves from the Twittergate “nonsense” dividing the authority.
The fall-out has continued from a special meeting called on Tuesday at which a plan to debate a “second-class Scots” tweet made two months ago by Montrose SNP councillor Bill Duff was spiked by Provost Helen Oswald when she ruled the motion put forward by non-administration members as not competent.
Opposition members say they now intend to bring forward a motion of no confidence in Mrs Oswald.
Arbroath independent David Fairweather said he was confident of gathering the seven signatures required to requisition a special meeting under standing orders, but other non-administration colleagues said they were sad to see a return to petty political bickering and called for the matter to be put to bed.
Carnoustie councillor Brian Boyd said: “It could have turned out to be a sad day for Angus Council and the provost did the right thing nipping it in the bud to avoid us returning to the bad old days in which the Standards Commission slammed Angus Council’s ‘ongoing political failure’ and demanded it take urgent steps to end petty political infighting.
“Of course Councillor Duff should have chosen his words more carefully, but to bring the entire council to a meeting two months after a tweet is just ludicrous and a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“When Angus has foodbanks, and education and social work departments in meltdown, elected councillors should prioritise what is important and stop this petty party politics.”
He continued: “We would have had no winners if this debate had happened.
“What’s more frustrating was that this nonsense was led by apparent independent councillors. I wish they wouldn’t dupe those who voted for them.
“If you are independent, stay independent,” said Mr Boyd.
Arbroath councillor Ewan Smith said: “I’m really disappointed this does not reflect a forward-looking council.
“We should be dealing with issues that impact directly on our constituents, looking at how we can make Angus a better place and this doesn’t have any relevance to that.
“I think to some extent it’s a witch-hunt against one councillor, which I don’t feel comfortable with at all.
“It’s no way to conduct the business of Angus Council.
“We have a much bigger issue for the whole of the country coming up on September 18 and I don’t see the Scottish Parliament convening special meetings on a daily basis to pick out one person, so why are we doing this in Angus Council?”