Aberdeen allies

We recently had a situation whereby Aberdeen's Lord Provost, Peter Stephen, used his casting vote to approve the plans to raise Union Terrace Gardens to street level, despite a public consultation vote being against the scheme, yet he keeps his job.

Earlier we had a similar situation where Martin Ford, chairman of Aberdeenshire Council Infrastructure Committee, used his casting vote to uphold the status quo when a vote was tied, which meant rejection of Donald Trump's plans at Menie, yet he was dismissed from his post, supposedly for going against public opinion.

Has justice and fair play taken a holiday away from north-east Scotland? No, I would suggest, given the strange happenings within the chambers of both councils in the past few years, that justice and fair play have emigrated. Mr Stephen is quoted as saying he was scared of being a laughing stock throughout the world if he rejected Sir Ian Wood's 50 million offer. Mr Stephen need not worry. By all accounts he is only a laughing stock in his own city.

RT SMITH

Braeside Terrace

Aberdeen