Leaks

It seems that the report into the sales of land at Menie was leaked to various newspapers.  And weirdly the council decided to publish much of the material that I argued could have been debated in public itself after the meeting.

And two journalists who would regard me as a friendly source complained to me that they hadn't got a copy of the report.

For the record, when I was consulted on the report some weeks ago, I asked that the report be split into two - one part that could be debated in public about process and one that would need to be private taking about value and bidders.  Today, I moved deferral so we could have these two reports this morning.   I tried ....

No doubt there will be an investigation into the leaks.  Last time the focus of an investigation as to who had leaked a memo about Menie that was sent to all 68 councillors focused oddly on Cllrs Merson, Davidson, Owen and myself.  Will the investigation this time reveal anything useful? 

I donlt think there was anything in the debate today that couldn't have been done in public.   It would have been so much simpler if the my colleagues had simply decided to debate matters of legitimate public interest in public. 

Disagree with me if you will, colleagues.  But have the grace to do it in public - and then you can be properly accountable to the public. 

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