The motion was presented at a meeting of the full council, which followed the conviction of ex-councillor Jordan Linden at Falkirk Sheriff Court on ten charges, which included five sexual assaults. Mr Linden is expected to be sentenced in May.
Coatbridge South councillor Tracy Carragher, formerly leader of the SNP group, did not attend this meeting, having been suspended from the party and withdrawn from its list of candidates in the upcoming Holyrood elections amidst allegations about her handling of matters around Linden.
The motion was led by independent councillor for Murdostoun Cameron McManus, himself one of Linden’s victims, as an urgent matter of business added to the agenda for this meeting.
Councillor McManus said all SNP members should be denied additional payments for extra duties such as convening committees due to the group’s silence over Linden, referring in particular to a meeting in July 2022 when Coatbridge councillor Kirsten Larson said: “The only thing Jordan Linden is guilty of is being a young person.”
Councillor Larson objected to this, saying the quote was a “partial, covert recording” taken out of context and hearsay, but Provost Kenneth Duffy, chairing the meeting, said Councillor McManus should be heard and debate would take place afterwards.
Councillor McManus added that none of the SNP group had contacted him since Linden’s conviction.
Seconding the motion was Councillor Louise Roarty (Labour, Murostoun), who praised the courage of all of Linden’s victims who had come forward to speak out against a “sexual predator”.
She said Councillor McManus had “been to hell and back” because of Jordan Linden, only to have his complaints ignored or downplayed by the SNP group, which had a collective responsibility to act.
She said those members who had taken Councillor McManus seriously were disciplined by the SNP group, being expelled, suspended or forced to resign, and quoted Councillor Carragher saying they needed to “protect Jordan’s mental health” while party headquarters advised Jordan not to comment.
Linden led the SNP group to take control of North Lanarkshire Council in the 2022 election, but within months, Labour was back in power, forming a minority administration following his resignation over allegations of sexual misconduct.
Councillor Roarty called for councillors Fiona Fotheringham and Tracy Carragher to resign after appearing in Linden’s trial as defence witnesses, and added that “any member who supported and protected the convicted paedophile Jordan Linden should hang their heads in shame and also consider their position as an elected member as these actions are indefensible”.
She then said the SNP group had also harboured Mark Kerr, a former councillor for Kilsyth who in 2022 received a six-year prison sentence for a series of attacks on young boys.
The motion was opposed by an amendment from the SNP group, which was tabled by Councillor Adam Smith (Cumbernauld East). He acknowledged Linden’s victims and said he was guilty of “despicable acts and behaviour” which should be reflected in his upcoming sentencing.
However, he added that the original version of the motion being discussed had made no reference to the victims of these crimes, and it had been revised after the SNP worded their amendment, which did.
Councillor Smith accused the Labour group of hypocrisy for seconding Councillor McManus when their members at every level of government participated in criminal acts, and said they were “politicising and profiteering” off the victims.
He added that Councillors Carragher and Fotheringham had appeared in court because they were cited as witnesses and failure to comply would have been contempt of court.
Councillor Smith also said that the SNP had already announced it would carry out a full review of its safeguarding and complaints procedures, and he hoped this would be robust and carried out without delay.
Following further debate, the motion was voted through with 50 votes to 21.
