Councillor cleared of antisemitism one year after complaint

Shetland Central councillor Ian Scott has been cleared of misconduct after an antisemitism complaint was made against him last year.

This comes almost 12 months after the complaint was first made to the Ethical Standards Commissioner (ESC) for a letter he had published in this newspaper.

Speaking to The Shetland Times, Mr Scott said he was happy the matter was settled and the complaint against him was thrown out.

“Thankfully, sanity has prevailed,” Mr Scott said.

The Standards Commission for Scotland published the findings at the weekend over his letter, which had been about the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine.

The ESC said the letter “did not contain any personal derogatory comments”, about an individual.

Neither did the ESC find anything in the letter to be antisemitic and Mr Scott was “entitled to his viewpoint” and as a result, he was not in breach of the councillor’s code of conduct.

In assessment of the findings, the commission believed the Shetland Central councillor had not brought himself or the SIC into disrepute. Holding a hearing may also have brought the ethical standards framework and the commission itself into disrepute.

The Standards Commission added: “In considering proportionality, the Standards Commission noted that the ESC, in his report, had reached the conclusion that the respondent’s conduct did not amount to a breach of the code.

“Having reviewed the referral carefully, the Standards Commission did not find any reason to depart from the ESC’s conclusions in that regard.”

It added it was “not proportionate” to hold a hearing and determined to take no action.

Read more in Friday’s edition of The Shetland Times.

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