Former Edinburgh council leader Cammy Day re-joins Labour Party as suspension lifted

Former Edinburgh council leader Cammy Day has been welcomed back to the Labour Party after being cleared by police of inappropriate behaviour.

Cllr Day was forced to quit his role leading the capital’s council in August after allegations emerged that he had bombarded Ukrainian refugees with sexual messages.

Police then examined a complaint made to the council’s whistleblowing service.

Former Edinburgh Council leader Cammy Day | TSPL

It is now understood Scottish Labour has lifted Mr Day’s administrative suspension and he is back in the council’s Labour group.

In April, Police Scotland had encouraged people to still come forward with complaints. A spokesperson said: “Following a report relating to inappropriate behaviour, extensive enquiries have been carried out. No criminality has been established and no one has been arrested.

“Time is no barrier to our enquiries and any further information received will be assessed.

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“I would urge anyone who wishes to report a crime, regardless of when it happened, to contact us, so we can conduct a thorough and professional investigation.”

Cllr Day’s return to the Labour group comes after a report into the council’s handling of the complaints against him found issues with safe-guarding measures, an “excessive hospitality culture”, and a “perceived power imbalance”.

Kevin Dunion, who had been brought in to lead the investigation, said: “The question has been posed in my remit as to whether the safeguards in the council are sufficient to prevent behaviour such as that alleged in relation to Councillor Day occurring.

“In short, the answer is no.”

He added: “Several councillors and staff interviewed have commented adversely on this prevalent culture of hospitality, which can be taken to excess and have suggested that this practice cease completely.”

The investigation also found “inadequacies” in the handling of a complaint made in 2018 about Cllr Day.

Mr Dunion said: “The seriousness of the claim of potentially criminal behaviour by a councillor, who might be the deputy leader, is such that the emails should have been shared by the council leader with the chief executive and monitoring officer.

“They would then have been in a position to decide whether to contact the police or been able to respond to enquiries from them, had the complainant contacted the police as advised by the business manager.”

The report recommended improving the council’s complaints system, improving councillors’ and staff’s awareness of bullying and harassment, and having a clear route for complaints with expectations of a line manager response.

It also recommended a greater emphasis on HR support for staff experiencing poor behaviour from councillors, better complaint record keeping, and a review of the whistleblowing policy and the whistleblowing subcommittee.