A TORY councillor took down his Facebook page yesterday after The National uncovered images of local people accompanied by “disgusting” comments.
Derek McCabe put candid shots of members of the public on his personal page, adding “discriminatory” and “offensive” comments on each.
In one shot, a man is pictured next to a woman at a formal dinner alongside a sexually explicit comment.
To keep the identities of those in the photos anonymous, we have blurred out their faces. McCabe did not.
Others are mocked for their size and eating chips on “giro day”, with two grey-haired women said to have snorted “a couple of lines of chico” before going to the bingo. In another, a man holding a gun is pictured with the caption: “Roger thought – marriage guidance my arse!!”
Others featured offensive remarks about Aberdeen and Celtic football clubs, while some showed poor children smoking cigarettes. Many of the images mocked woman drivers.
In arguably the most offensive post, McCabe uses an image of a noticeboard for a local Brownies group, on which somebody has posted Fair Trade pictures of black people.
“Little mildred was a right little joker,” was his caption.
The material came to light when it was reported to The National by a member of the public in the South Ayrshire Council area, who had been searching the social network for the Ayr West councillor’s page.
Set up several years ago, it had been left public, with the images – posted between 2010-15 before his election – available for any web users to see.
The member of the public, who did not want to be named, said the people pictured had been “ridiculed”, stating: “I’m sure his friends find it very humorous but he is a councillor. There are big questions about the content. If you were someone on income support, if you had the misfortune of being unemployed, would you be confident that he would represent you? Ayr West contains the poorest and richest parts of the area.”
One council source called the material “discriminatory” and “inappropriate” for an elected member, adding: “I can’t tell you why this has been done or why this hasn’t been deleted. I don’t know why you would be posting these things in the first place.
“If he was in my party, I’d be wanting action to be taken. But if he was in my party, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
The matter is the latest social media embarrassment to hit Ruth Davidson’s Tory Party. In Stirling, councillors were ordered to attend diversity training over allegations of racism and bigotry.
Former Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock MP Corri Wilson called the captions “disgusting” and recalled the 2016 scandal over tweets shared by South Ayrshire councillor Mary Kilpatrick calling for a burka ban and attacking the Muslim practice of fasting during holy month Ramadan.
At the time, a Tory spokesperson issued an apology on Kilpatrick’s behalf, adding: “We have issued reminders to all elected representatives and candidates to act responsibly when using social media.”
Last night, McCabe confirmed that guidance had been delivered, but said he had “forgot all about” the images. He said: “If anybody was offended, I’m surprised they didn’t say at the time. That was part of the business and coming into public office is a completely different dynamic and I wouldn’t consider anything like that.
“It’s not suitable. When you pointed it out it made me realise.”
On whether or not the material is offensive, McCabe, who works for the press as well as public and private clients, said: “In retrospect, probably I could see maybe some of them are. Nothing was meant offensively.”
When asked whether the subjects captured knew of the posts, McCabe said “some of them did”, adding: “They knew the intention. It was humour-driven.”
However, Labour councillor Brian McGinley said: “Having viewed these images, I think elected politicians should be very aware of their public responsibilities towards their electorate and be conscious of how their actions and behaviours might cause offence. Clearly, for me, the content of these images demonstrates perjor-ative and stereotypical views that are unbecoming of a person who holds public office and is required to represent all groups of local people within their communities.
“There is a reason why local councillors must abide by the principles and standards in public life and it is to help ensure that politicians act with the utmost integrity. This adherence helps to protect our confidence in local democracy.
“Anything that falls short of this reflects badly on the political office and is demeaning to us all”.
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