A COUNCILLOR who labelled 15-year-old a “sexual deviant” after wrongly accusing them of spying on girls in a school changing room has slammed his suspension as a “token gesture to appease the woke mob”.
Alasdair Redman, an independent councillor on Argyll and Bute Council, was suspended by the Standards Commission for comments that they labelled “disrespectful and discriminatory”.
The councillor responded to a comment on Facebook arguing that the suspension would have minimal impact.
He wrote: “I just can't attend certain meetings (I didn't actually have that many to attend for the next two months).”
“I can still do all my constituency work, raise new cases, hold surgeries and travel around every corner of my ward.
“I'm also still on full pay with travel expenses.”
Redman condemned what he believes was behind the reason for his suspension: “It's very much a token gesture to appease the woke mob.”
The councillor had contacted the education department following allegations from some parents that a teenager had placed video equipment in a local school's girls-only changing room.
Redman, during the call, had told the council officer that because the child "cross-dressed," it was "likely" they were guilty of putting the recording equipment in the changing area. Redman said: "People who cross-dressed were more likely to be sexually deviant”.
Both the unnamed school and Police Scotland investigated the claims but found them to be untrue.
The National reached out to the Standards Commission for Scotland for comment regarding Redman’s Facebook statement about his suspension.
They said: “The Standards Commission does not consider a suspension to be a token gesture. It is disappointed that Cllr Redman does not appear to have taken the opportunity to reflect upon his conduct and, in particular, on how it affected the child in question.”
The commission had elected to suspend Redman for two months over his comments made to the council’s education department in January 2023.
