Oban Times Letters to the Editor - 6.2.25

Support for Councillor Baxter

How much more convincing the councillors criticising Andrew Baxter for disclosing the detail of their discussions would be, if they were as consistently present at community events or meetings as he has been, over years of trying to represent local residents.

It’s obvious why they feel so threatened by this push for greater transparency to folk across Lochaber: it will reveal how in thrall they are to the financial machinations of Highland Council Officers, and how poor they are at actively engaging with those who elected them. 

I was a community councillor and association member in Nether Lochaber during the entirety of Andrew’s previous tenure as an independent, when he attended our public meetings multiple times every year, and gave us a voice whenever he could. But I can count on one hand (backed up by meeting minutes) the number of appearances by any other Ward 24 members in the last decade or more.

As for harassment, genuine cases of this are surely a police matter, whereas being challenged or asked difficult questions by the electorate is part of the role of being a councillor. If our councillors were better representing their constituents and more effectively confronting HC about its failing culture, services and infrastructure, perhaps they would get less stick. 

It’s incredibly disappointing how, until Andrew was re-elected, trying to contact and speak with a councillor as a resident had become an exercise in futility. Their criticism comes across as very defensive, by a cohort keen to evade scrutiny and accountability for decisions they don’t want to be public. They need to up their game.
Iain Jenner, Onich.

Truth and transparency matter in politics

Councillor Alastair Redman is often quoted in press articles as ‘independent’. Our ward 2 councillor – suspended from the Tory Party and then expelled following an incident investigated by the Commission of Boundaries Scotland – should show honesty and integrity as an elected member.  

Councillor Redman is not ‘independent’ as a quick check of his social media accounts show he actively supports Reform UK.

 
It is coming up to the time when candidates are being selected for the Scottish Parliament Elections in 2026.  Recent social media posts picture Councillor Redman actively campaigning in Oban, Lochgilphead and Campbeltown; none of these locations are in Ward 2 where he is councillor. Is Councillor Redman standing for Reform UK at Holyrood next year?

Why can’t he be honest with us and drop the ‘independent’ pretence?  On every email, news article he writes, or on every appearance on GB News he is labelled as ‘independent’. 

Perhaps there is another reason why Councillor Redman does not ‘fess up’ for Reform UK.  Perhaps he is too toxic for the Tories and too toxic for Reform as well, given that he has just been suspended by the Standards Commission after a hearing on February 19, where he was found guilty of making unfounded allegations concerning  a 15-year-old child (see Oban Times, 27.2.25). 

This was not freedom of speech or protecting women and girls’ rights as Councillor Redman seems to think; it is behaviour without doubt that should be condemned by all across the political spectrum. All councillors have to adhere to a Code of Conduct that they sign once elected and they need to show honesty, integrity and respect, among other values. 

In my opinion a two-month suspension for this is not enough of a punishment, especially when the vast majority of us would face the sack for this behaviour.  

He’s brought unsavoury headlines about Argyll and Bute on various news platforms and is not the least bit sorry. It is to my mind a very narcissistic view to take if Councillor Redman claims to be the victim here. 

To paraphrase a quote I read during the furore, people of Ward 2 and Argyll and Bute, ‘give your heads a wobble’ and stop voting for this person, whether as Councillor or as MSP.
Lorna McFadzean Bowmore, Islay.