The good fight

Published on 05/12/2012 00:00

When commenting on Michael Forbes’s heartening Scot of the Year Award, Gerry Hassan quite rightly criticises the Scottish political and business establishment for their handling of the Trump saga (Perspective, 1 December). He goes on to suggest ways in which civic Scotland can discover a political voice.

Perhaps I could remind him and your readers that not all local politicians fall into this 
category. Martin Ford, then a Liberal Democrat councillor and now an independent councillor in Aberdeenshire, fought hard as chairman of the infrastructure committee to refuse planning permission but was eventually sacked by the rest of the council.

His re-election as an independent councillor is an example of how it is possible to try to use the political process to challenge authority.

In my view, the present national position of the Liberal Democrats is similar to that pertaining in Aberdeenshire Council at that time.

Unfortunately, Martin Ford felt he had to resign, but it would be my hope that members of the party should feel able to try to influence policy from within without taking this 
extreme step.

(Dr) C M Corser

Friars Way

Linlithgow