Angus Council’s leader has admitted a Hitler reference was “clumsy” during a fiery debate around the re-naming of a Kirriemuir street.
SNP administration chief Beth Whiteside has been accused of “bullying” a local businesswoman who addressed councillors during the debate around the future of Cumberland Close.
The issue dominated the three-and-a-half hour meeting on Thursday.
It came after a 1,000 signature petition was submitted to the council asking for the association with the ‘butcher’ of the Jacobite rising to be removed.
Kirriemuir people will now be given the chance in a public consultation to decide whether the street named after the Duke of Cumberland will be changed.
During the full council, Ms Whiteside compared Cumberland’s crimes to those of the Nazi party leader.
Local businesswoman Anne McLean – who spoke in favour of the name remaining – was asked by the council leader: “If the street was called Hitler Street do you think people would be fine with that?”
The Monifieth and Sidlaw councillor says she now accepts her point may have been “clumsily made”.
She stood firmly by her condemnation of Cumberland’s atrocities as being equal to those of other war criminals.
Angus opposition leader Derek Wann has written to the council’s chief executive and Provost condemning Councillor Whiteside.
‘Nothing short of bullying’
He said he was “appalled” at what he labelled harassment of the public.
“Councillor Whiteside compared a historical figure with Adolf Hitler, saying his “crimes were on a par” with the architect of the Holocaust in which six million Jews were murdered,” he said.
“This is deeply offensive to those of Jewish faith and indeed all faiths, would be considered anti-semitic in any public role, and falls well below the acceptable standard of public discourse.
“During the meeting, a member of the public was harassed by Ms Whiteside over whether she and others would hypothetically be happy with a street name ‘Hitler Street’.”
Mr Wann said that fell short of a section of the councillors’ code around respect and courtesy.
“I made the point that this was ridiculous and surely we shouldn’t be asking questions like this to a member of the public who came along to make what was an eloquent and structured argument to why not to change the street name,” he said.
“It felt nothing short of bullying.”
He also criticised Ms Whiteside for failing to make a declaration of transparency after she accepted the Cumberland petition from campaigner Scott McFarlane earlier this year.
Leader defiant
Ms Whiteside said: “The crimes of the Duke of Cumberland were horrendous.
“Genocide, violent pacification of the highlands, rape, torture, murder by cruel and sadistic methods and much more.
“It was no accident that he earned the nickname “Butcher Cumberland”.
“Unfortunately, Scottish history has not, traditionally, been fully taught in our schools, and the deeds of Cumberland are not as widely known as those of other historical figures.
“My point was clumsily made, perhaps, but I was attempting to point out that genocide of the Scottish people was no better than genocide in other parts of the world, carried out by other evil people, and a street named after more well-known war criminals would not be considered acceptable.
“I utterly condemn the actions of Hitler against Jews, and all other incidents of genocide and ethnic cleansing through history.
“Sadly, this continues to this day and I am equally appalled by acts of terrorism on the people of Israel by Hamas and the collective punishment of the people of Palestine that is currently underway.
“I certainly don’t consider that I harassed a member of the public.
“I asked a question and later thanked both delegations her their contributions and said that I understood their positions.
She continued: “I did not think it was democratic, however, to shut down debate or refuse to give the residents of Kirriemuir the chance to have a say on the matter on the basis of one person’s objections.”
Conflict claim rejected
And she rejected Mr Wann’s claim of a potential conflict of interest.
She added: “I’m a believer in democracy and would happily accept a petition from any member of the public.
“This doesn’t indicate a conflict of interest and indeed, you will be aware that my amendment didn’t argue for a change of name to be implemented, it asserted that this should be a matter for the residents of Kirriemuir to decide.
“The petition in question received a high level of support, it gathered more signatures than many council-wide consultations, for example.
“For this reason, I felt that the debate shouldn’t be shut down by councillors representing wards across Angus, but that the residents of Kirriemuir should have the opportunity to decide both whether there should be a name change , and if so, what that change should be.”
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