Concerns have been raised over standards at Fife Council after a row among councillors over the authority’s new administration.
One councillor was called out for a comment left in a private chat group for elected members, which accused them of accepting “30 pieces of silver” for keeping the SNP out of power.
During the meeting, which saw a host of key appointments nodded through by councillors last week, the new Labour administration was accused of a “democratic fraud”.
The SNP was previously in coalition with Labour but has been frozen out after Conservative and Lib Dem councillors opted to support the appointment of a Labour minority administration.
It has now been revealed that the SNP’s David Barratt, who represents Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay, made the “30 pieces of silver” comment.
The reference comes from the Gospel of Matthew, with 30 pieces of silver the sum Judas Iscariot was described as receiving for having betrayed Jesus.
In a screenshot shared with The Courier, Mr Barratt can be seen posting the comment in a private chat room only visible to councillors before quickly deleting it.
Labour councillor Altany Craik then tells Mr Barratt (audible in the video) he should be “ashamed of himself”.
After SNP group leader David Alexander is then heard saying “aww”, Mr Craik responds: “This is about standards and they are going through the floor.”
Mr Craik later told The Courier: “It was a really ill-thought-out and disappointing comment for anybody to think and type during a council meeting.
“It would appear he instantly regretted it, as it was deleted quite quickly.”
Comment was ‘made in jest’
Mr Barratt told The Courier comment had been “made in jest” and sent to the wrong group chat.
He said: “I deleted it within around one minute. If members of the Labour, Lib Dem or Conservative group are sensitive about such comments, I can only assume it is fuelled by embarrassment for the deals they have done.
“The Labour group should be more open with the public about what deals have been done to secure the Tory votes necessary to prop up their administration.”
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