Politician cites �poisonous meetings� and infighting
By Tom Gordon, Scottish Political Editor

THE councillor at the centre of the row over Donald Trump's £1billion golf course is turning his back on his fellow Liberal Democrats on Aberdeenshire Council after a year of "poisonous meetings".

Martin Ford will inform his party leadership today that he will no longer take part in meetings of the council's LibDem group - a move that will almost certainly lead to his formal expulsion.

"There comes a time when the sensible and dignified thing to do is to walk away and for me that point is now. I have been to one too many poisonous meetings. Frankly, life's too short," he told the Sunday Herald.

The group, which runs Aberdeenshire in coalition with the Conservatives, has been riven by infighting ever since Ford chaired the committee which rejected the Trump application last November.

Scottish ministers intervened to hold a public inquiry, and earlier this month the plan was given final approval.

The inquiry found the links course would encroach on a wildlife-rich dune system on the Menie Estate, but said the "economic and social advantages are such as to justify, uniquely, the adverse environmental consequences".

Trump's scheme also includes plans for 500 luxury homes and a hotel.

Ford's decision comes just days after Aberdeenshire's LibDems voted to expel Deborah Storr, another councillor who voted against Trump's plan, a decision he described as "the final straw".

A LibDem councillor since 1999, he said: "I have no problem with party policy. It's because of the behaviour of the leadership of the Aberdeenshire LibDem council group.

"I was the subject of the most unpleasant witchhunt. I was removed from a whole series of positions from the council after I was given assurances that I would not be.

"It was like being disappeared' in the South American sense."

He said if he had his time over again, he would still vote against the application, and the persecution of those who voted against the scheme undermined the principle of planning decisions.

"However you look at it, this is a really monstrous way to be treated. All of this goes back to me voting on the planning application in a way I thought was proper. It's very difficult to square this behaviour with LibDem principles of democracy and natural justice. It's certainly not the behaviour my party advocates for other people."

He added: "This has been going on for nearly a year and very visibly so. During that time the national party has been unwilling or unable to stop this."

Ford, 49, does not intend to resign from the LibDem party, or from the council. However, his decision not to attend any more meetings of the party is expected to lead to disciplinary action.

The most likely outcome is that he is expelled from the group and forced to sit as an independent alongside councillor Storr.

Storr was expelled by her LibDem colleagues on Monday for "breaking party rules". Her alleged offence was to oppose a LibDem council motion calling for the Standards Commission to investigate another councillor.

An SNP spokeswoman said: "With one councillor leaving already this week and Martin Ford finally heading for the door, people in Aberdeenshire will be wondering when the Liberal Democrats are going to concentrate on them, instead of fighting with each other."