Brown lodges complaint in bitter dispute over PM's visit

Jamie MacDonald • Published 21 Apr 2010 15:01 6 Comments

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KEITH Brown MSP has written to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to complain about the recent allegations made by Gordon Banks and the Labour Party about his behaviour.

Last week Mr Brown MSP was accused of behaving like a "hooligan" during a visit by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to Dollar.

The Prime Minister stopped off in the street where Mr Brown MSP lives to meet potential voters and the views of politicians on the events that followed differs drastically.

Mr Banks, the current MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, claimed last week Mr Brown MSP, Scotland's schools minister, had acted in a "disgraceful manner" and breached the ministerial code binding Government ministers to be respectful to each other as he attempted to question the Prime Minister.

A Labour aide also claimed to have been punched in the back by Mr Brown MSP.

Following the incident suggestions were made that complaints would be lodged against Mr Brown MSP at the Scottish Parliament.

On the other hand, Mr Brown MSP says he took the opportunity of having the PM in his street to raise questions about the war in Iraq and the lack of helicopters in Afghanistan.

He added that as the Labour aide backed into him he stopped him with his hands.

Mr Brown MSP has accused the Labour party of instigating a smear campaign against him.

He said, "The press release issued by the Labour Party is a complete misrepresentation of the situation and the statement by Gordon Banks is the knee jerk reaction of the Labour Party, which is to try and smear whoever asks 'awkward' questions of them.

"It is also extremely concerning that Labour's head press officer was willing to distort the facts to make phoney headlines. Is it any wonder that people no longer believe what the Labour Party has to say?

"There are rules by which MPs must comply and it is the role of the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to ensure this happens and I have referred this matter to them for further investigation."

At the time Mr Banks said, "It was disgraceful behaviour - and especially from the man responsible for Scottish education. He was acting like a hooligan, trying to make a scene. This man has let our area down."

Donald Balsillie, the SNP group leader at Clackmannanshire Council, has given his backing to Mr Brown MSP.

He said, "So Gordon Banks invites Gordon Brown to assist his campaign in Ochil. Of all the towns, villages and streets he picks to visit in Ochil it is the one that Keith Brown MSP lives in. By complete chance of course.

"Keith Brown does not miss the chance to ask the questions that Labour do not want asked in this campaign - why did they support the war in Iraq and then not provide adequate resources for our troops?

"Following the heckling Gordon Banks has raised an official complaint but who set out to noise up who?"

A video of the incident can be viewed at the Advertiser website www.alloaadvertiser.com

Have your say. Post a comment on this article.

William Jamieson
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Apr 21, 22:56
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Cllr Balsillie -

'Keith Brown does not miss the chance to ask the questions that Labour do not want asked in this campaign - why did they support the war in Iraq and then not provide adequate resources for our troops?'

I agree that the troops should always have the best equipment available to them but I feel it's a bit rich for the SNP to take the moral high ground over any other political party in the UK over the armed forces.

Have they forgotten about the SNP MSP in the Scottish Parliament who called for the British Army to be kicked out of their base at Edinburgh castle as she deems the flag flying there to be 'flag of occupation'.

A Scottish army veteran was quoted at the time 'this is a kick in the teeth to Scottish soldiers past and present, just to make petty political points.'

This very same MSP managing to single-handedly insult every Scot that has ever served in the British Armed Forces past and present by calling them all 'economic conscripts'. In fact it was so bad a comment to make that even some SNP members of the Scottish Parliament distanced themselves from it.

And again that same SNP MSP complaining that those poor unfortunate Scottish troops that have been killed in action in the Middle East aren't being shipped home in Saltire draped coffins but in coffins covered in the 'butchers apron'.

Then we had the SNP digitally remove the Union flag from a photograph of Edinburgh Castle prompting Royal British Legion Scotland, to describe it as 'an insult to Scottish war heroes'.

Perhaps these sort of things need to be seriously addressed by the SNP before they can take the moral high ground over anything connected to the British Armed Forces.

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ex-wee county resident
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Apr 23, 15:38
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What about the seven SNP MSPs who has the brass neck to claim back Remembrance Day wreaths on their expenses in 2009? What an absolute disgrace.

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Jodie
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Apr 25, 17:18
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So did a number of Labour, Tory and Liberal MSPs as did quite a few MPs - what's your point and how does it relate to this situation?

The SNP did not support the War in Iraq and they are not the Party in control whose job is to ensure that when our soldiers are sent abroad, they have enough of the proper equipment to let them do their jobs safely.

My cousin has been in both Iraq and Afghanistan and I think it's disgraceful the way our soldiers have been treated.

It seems that the Scottish Government are committed to improving services for veterans while the UK Government tries to hide its poor record - Gordon Brown was forced to admit at the Chilcott Inquiry that the defence budget was cut.

I have written to both Gordon Brown and Gordon Banks on this matter - got a fairly bog standard response from the PM but nothing from our sitting MP.

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ex-wee county resident
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Apr 28, 13:45
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Jodie - I've served for the past twenty-two years. I have first-hand experience of how the equipment was short, badly delivered, badly designed and sometimes downright dangerous. We all agree that it's difficult to equip soldiers so far from home and

I was one who's job it was to make it clear to others within my Battalion at the time that it should be made clear back home of that fact. There's no disputing those facts over the equipment but more equipment is available now than what was available in the early days.

The wreath situation, your assertion above seems to be of that it was ok for the SNP members to claim back expenses on remembrance wreaths as "a number of Labour, Tory and Liberal MSPs" did likewise is sheer hypocrisy in itself. Those seven SNP members claimed the money back as well as the other party members. Every one of them let those veterans, those currently serving, and those constituents down just the same as the others did. That's the point I was making. It's a bit hypocritical to be asking questions on military matters and say they are the only party standing up for Scottish service personel and veterans.

I'll take a point from the first comment in the reply. To have politicians back home in Scotland make complaints about how Scottish troops are coming home in coffins covered by a "flag of occupation" to try and tot up some political pointscoring exercise while there's English, Welsh, Irish, Fijian, Samoan, Nepalese and Scots all serving together as one under the Royal Regiment of Scotland family.

It's all too easy for the Scottish Nationalists to see fault in military funding or in the mistakes that have been made or how they would fund the military in the future. You see the SNP haven't the responsibilities for any of it.

The day we heard about the SNP MSP moan about Scots coming home in Saltire draped coffins and being called "economic conscripts" we Scots were going out on patrol with a number of nationalities watching each others backs. To have an SNP MSP sitting in luxury back home in Scotland arguing over which flag covers our coffins is a complete and utter scandal.

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ex-wee county resident
Unregistered User
Apr 28, 13:57
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Jodie - I've served for the past twenty-two years. I have first-hand experience of how the equipment was short, badly delivered, badly designed and sometimes downright dangerous. We all agree that it's difficult to equip soldiers so far from home and

I was one who's job it was to make it clear to others within my Battalion at the time that it should be made clear back home of that fact. There's no disputing those facts over the equipment but more equipment is available now than what was available in the early days.

The wreath situation, your assertion above seems to be of that it was ok for the SNP members to claim back expenses on remembrance wreaths as "a number of Labour, Tory and Liberal MSPs" did likewise is sheer hypocrisy in itself. Those seven SNP members claimed the money back as well as the other party members. Every one of them let those veterans, those currently serving, and those constituents down just the same as the others did. That's the point I was making. It's a bit hypocritical to be asking questions on military matters and say they are the only party standing up for Scottish service personel and veterans.

I'll take a point from the first comment in the reply. To have politicians back home in Scotland make complaints about how Scottish troops are coming home in coffins covered by a "flag of occupation" to try and tot up some political pointscoring exercise while there's English, Welsh, Irish, Fijian, Samoan, Nepalese and Scots all serving together as one under the Royal Regiment of Scotland family.

It's all too easy for the Scottish Nationalists to see fault in military funding or in the mistakes that have been made or how they would fund the military in the future. You see the SNP haven't the responsibilities for any of it.

The day we heard about the SNP MSP moan about Scots coming home in Saltire draped coffins and being called "economic conscripts" we Scots were going out on patrol with a number of nationalities watching each others backs. To have an SNP MSP sitting in luxury back home in Scotland arguing over which flag covers our coffins is a complete and utter scandal.

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ex-wee county resident
Unregistered User
Apr 28, 13:59
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And just to make it clear Jodie so you can't come back and accuse me of voting or writing on behalf of a particular party. Members of my family and me myself have voted SNP in the past.

Yes as a military family we have all felt let down by New Labour over the equipment shortages but we are equally let down by SNP members using Scottish soldiers as pawns in a political game to suit their own agendas and aims.

To be called an "economic conscript" by an SNP MSP, who's incidentily living safe and sound in relitive luxury, for being a Scotsman serving in the British Army was an insult and was the final straw for a lot of us.

Signed,

An "economic conscript".

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