THE SNP is facing calls to sack the deputy leader of the party on Scotland's largest local authority after he was found guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive manner.
Billy McAllister was fined for shouting and swearing at a man who classes himself as disabled at a bedroom tax meeting.
The 4-year-old long-standing deputy on Glasgow City Council told John Park to "f*** off" and said "You're f****** rumbled" when they both went to a meeting where Tommy Sheridan was speaking, in Ardoch Street, Possilpark, last year.
Shadow Scottish Secretary and Labour Glasgow East MP Margaret Curran has now written to Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, calling on the SNP to take action against their senior councillor.
She has been joined in her calls by Maria Fyfe, former MP for Glasgow Maryhill, where McAllister's ward is, who has questioned why "a man like this is elevated to such a senior position in their party in Scotland's largest city".
Matters could come to a head next week at the SNP group in Glasgow's AGM, where councillors were already due to elect a replacement for group leader Graeme Hendry. The Herald understands McAllister had previously expressed his desire to continue as deputy.
In her letter to Ms Sturgeon, Ms Curran said: "You will no doubt be aware of the concern amongst Glaswegians that such a man holds high office in your party and the city of Glasgow.
"I am sure you agree with me that such a verbal assault on a disabled person is completely unacceptable especially from someone holding a senior position within your party.
"I would therefore call on you as a fellow Glasgow elected member and Deputy Leader of the SNP to take immediate action to ensure that this individual is no longer allowed to hold a senior position in the SNP.
"The people of Glasgow will expect you and your party to take action in light of Cllr McAllister's conviction."
Ms Fyfe added: "What does it say about the SNP when a man like this is elevated to such a senior position in their party in Scotland's largest city?
"The SNP must take swift action against a man who has now been convicted of acting in a threatening or abusive manner."
There was no immediate comment from the SNP.
On Monday, Glasgow Sheriff Court heard McAllister was so aggressive when he shouted to Mr Park, a member of the Solidarity party, that he was "almost spitting" and had to be forcefully held back and was eventually dragged away.
Mr Park, who has metal plates in his leg and a crushed vertebrae, then went to the reception area of the Millennium centre where the meeting was held, and the police were called.
McAllister pled guilty to acting in a threatening or abusive manner and shouting, swearing and gesticulating aggressively towards Mr Park on May 29, last year. A not guilty plea to a charge of assault by pressing a key into Mr Park's face was accepted by the Crown.
McAllister was fined £200 by sheriff Lindsay Wood.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article