Taxi Driver Online

There's a ton of stuff around today, for obvious reasons

These are two of the most interesting pieces from the P&J. Of course, there's a lot of virtue signalling and rhetoric, but this is maybe some of the more important stuff from a quasi-judicial perspective.

There's a hint of awareness regarding that angle in some of the statements being made. But - and maybe it's just me - doesn't this future vote of no confidence also run a coach and horses through it all? Should councillors be facing such a motion on the basis of a decision made on a quasi-judicial basis?


Five Highland councillors to face ‘unprecedented’ no confidence vote after backing rapist to keep taxi licences

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/ne ... ence-vote/

Council convener Bill Lobban described the decision as "incomprehensible" to many within the local authority

Five Highland councillors who backed a rapist to keep his taxi licences are now facing an “unprecedented” vote of no confidence.

Highland Council’s full council had been due to meet today to review an original decision taken by its licensing committee to let David Brown keep his operator’s licences – despite him being in jail for raping a passenger.

However, the local authority was rocked yesterday when it emerged he had voluntarily surrendered them.

Today councillors who attended the full council meeting unanimously backed a motion agreeing the “unprecedented action” to review the licence for a second time was “justified”.

Only two of the councillors, Duncan MacPherson and John Grafton, who made the original decision were present.

Councillors Chris Birt, Ruraidh Stewart and Sean Kennedy, who was chairman of the committee, did not attend.

Caithness councillor Willie Mackay resigned from the council completely after the fallout from June’s meeting.

Talks in the chambers today lasted just 7 minutes 48 seconds.

And following the brief talks, council convener Bill Lobban stunned members by announcing the five councillors who remain elected would now face a vote of no confidence next month.

Immediately following the talks, Mr MacPherson told The Press and Journal: “I’m not going to comment. I’m going to pause and reflect.”

‘Public will make voices heard loudly in election’

Councillors will meet on September 17 to debate the no confidence motion in members Mr Birt, Mr Grafton, Mr Kennedy, Mr MacPherson and Mr Stewart.

The paperwork has been signed by the three most senior councillors in the chambers, in convener Mr Lobban, council leader Raymond Bremner and opposition leader Alasdair Christie.

Despite signing the motion, all three declined to say whether they wanted the councillors expelled from the chambers.

Mr Lobban said: “That’s a matter for the public.”

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He added: “When it comes to the elections in May the public will make their views known, and loudly I would imagine.”

Council leader Mr Bremner also explained the council was taking “unprecedented” action against the five remaining councillors to show how seriously it was taking the matter.

He said: “The decisions and the actions and the follow up that the council has taken, and is continuing, reflects exactly how we feel as three leaders of the council.

“We need to show the public that what happened wasn’t acceptable.

“We need to now reflect on that and we need to restore that confidence.”

‘Many of us have forgotten victim’

Mr Lobban described the fallout from the licensing committee’s original decision as a “disturbing episode” in the history of Highland Council.

The council convener admitted he had personally been “disturbed” and “upset” about the decision to let Brown remain involved in his taxi company despite being placed on the sex offender’s register for life.

Today Mr Lobban said much of the fallout about the taxi licence decision had failed to consider the impact on Brown’s victim.

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He said: “I think that in all of this, many of us have forgotten who the exact victim in all of this was.

“I would much prefer if we had made a different decision at the licensing committee in the first place.

“Therefore this would have been all over and done with a long time ago.”

Again, there's stuff in here that effectively mentions the quasi-judicial stuff (although that term isn't specifically used). But it's quite narrowly framed in terms of all that's gone on, and will be going on in future. So to that extent it merely underlines that the whole thing has been a complete abomination in quasi-judicial terms


Exclusive: The four women who voted against Inverness taxi rapist keeping licence speak for first time

The councillors spoke as a group to The Press and Journal after a special meeting lasted just 7 minutes and 48 seconds.



Since the shocking decision not to take action on David Brown’s taxi licence was made, the four women that voted against it have maintained a dignified silence.

However, they have now spoken to the press for the first time.

Councillors Lyndsey Johnston, Kate MacLean, Jackie Hendry, and Emma Knox spoke as a group to The Press and Journal following a meeting on the decision that lasted just 7 minutes and 48 seconds.

They had previously withheld making any statements in the public as they were advised by council officers not to before the special meeting was held today.

And they believed that up until yesterday when Brown surrendered his licences, they would have needed to make a decision on the review.

They told us they were “angry and frustrated” for the victim at the time after the decision, but thanked senior council officials for their quick assistance in recalling the decision.

Councillors reveal details from confidential meeting

After some tech issues at the meeting, the four councillors said they took action after the decision to contact senior leadership about not taking action on Brown’s operator licences.

They then held a meeting with senior council leadership about the decision, in which chief executive Derek Brown was also present.

The group also wanted to stress that it was “not all men” on the licensing committee involved in the decision, as vice-chair Karl Rosie and councillor John Bruce did not take part.

Black Isle councillor Lyndsey Johnston said: “It was really good the way the council leadership took decisive action immediately after the licensing committee to recall the decision.

“We were listened to and the action was swift.

“It was not a political group decision and that accusation is completely unfounded because we are not whipped on licensing.

“We do not come to a pre-decision before collectively, We are there to make a decision on our own merits.

“Any accusation that it was a group or SNP decision is completely inaccurate.”

Inverness Ness-side councillor Jackie Hendry said: “We just couldn’t let that go on the day. I couldn’t sit there and accept that decision.

“It could have been avoided.

“It could have been dealt with cleanly and swiftly on June 23.

“Instead there’s been five weeks of where the victim has had to have it in the press and social media.

“This is what makes us angry and frustrated.

“But the council acted very quickly.”

‘It was blatantly obvious that being a rapist is incompatible with being a licence holder’

Aird and Loch Ness councillor Emma Knox explained: “How can they decide that a rapist is a fit and proper person?

“It was blatantly obvious that being a rapist is incompatible with being a licence holder.

“You don’t need to be in the SNP group to come to that decision.”

A vote of no confidence will be held in September on the five remaining councillors that voted to take no action on Brown’s licences.

“Things like enhanced training for all members, mandatory violence against women and girls training, safeguarding training, that kind of thing.

“It doesn’t do anyone any good if we just walked out,” added councillor Hendry.

“We hope that the victim in this has a chance to move on with her life.”

“It is the further action that is important,” Councillor Knox added.

“That’s this case decided about this individual, but it’s about the whole system.”

Inverness Central councillor Kate MacLean said: “It’s not just us (Highland Council).

“It’s the decision making at local authorities across the patch.”

What was the basis of the action again?

That's never been disclosed, precisely. And it's presumably not illegal per se for a convicted criminal to hold a taxi plate, or there would never have been a vote on it in the first place?

So basically the basis of the whole thing seems to be that the original committee meeting didn't vote the way they were expected to vote. So the whole meeting was basically just a charade and it was expected to rubber-stamp what was required. As, of course, was today's meeting, assuming he hadn't surrendered the plates yesterday.


But didn't the political parties get together after the event to remove the whip from those who didn't toe the line with regard to how they were expected to vote?

The P&J also done a live blog, predictably enough

Lots of stuff in there, and no doubt a few nuggets beyond the rehash and stuff in the pieces above. But I can't be bothered wading through it all at the moment. But this is a link if anyone's interested - it wasn't paywalled when I visited the page earlier:


Live updates: Highland Council special meeting after Inverness rapist surrenders taxi licence ends after just EIGHT MINUTES

The local authority is meeting to discuss the decision to allow the disgraced cabbie to operate in the Highland capital.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/ne ... vid-brown/

You would have thought that they would have been happy to have the time now to undertake other tasks, rather than bellyache about not being able to grandstand.

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Ever spent yonks on a post with quotes and comments in it, all in the same tab? And you have umpteen other tabs open at the same time. And then accidentally close the tab with the draft post you've spent absolutely ages on

And have to do it all again


Exclusive: John Swinney reacts to ‘absurd’ Highland rapist taxi licence scandal

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The first minister told The Press and Journal the decision to grant David Brown his licence should never have been allowed to happen.

John Swinney claimed the decision to allow a rapist to keep his Highland Council taxi licence should never have been allowed to happen.

The first minister reacted in the aftermath of the damaging decision by a small number of male politicians on the licensing committee to let David Brown keep a licence under his name.

Brown, of Croy, had been sentenced to six years and nine months in May for raping an 18-year-old female passenger in December 2023.

Five of the six men who voted for the decision have since resigned from the committee, while an SNP councillor was suspended by his group.

An emergency meeting of the full council was called for Tuesday but that changed focus when it emerged Brown had decided to voluntarily surrender his licence.

John Swinney says taxi decision was absurd

Mr Swinney said he backed the council’s eventual decision to review the licence again.

Speaking to The P&J on Wednesday, he said: “I welcome the discussion at Highland Council last night which was a recognition of the very clear leadership from the council convener that the original decision was absolutely absurd to have been taken.

“I’m glad that that issue has now been resolved by the surrendering of the license by David Brown.

“But it should never have come to this because the licensing authority should never have taken the original decision that it took.

“I think it is very indicative of how we’ve all got to be very attentive at all times to ensuring that we are conscious of the implications of any of the decisions that we could take on questions like this.”

A motion of no confidence against the five councillors who voted for Brown to keep his licence will be heard in September.

Former chairman Sean Kennedy and John Grafton resigned in the days after the controversial decision sparked anger.

Duncan Macpherson, of the Highland Alliance group, followed them out last month.

Conservative Ruraidh Stewart has quit the licensing committee but has not commented despite our efforts to reach him.

Willie Mackay, who was one of the original six, has already resigned from the council.

SNP councillor Chris Birt – who was suspended by the party – publicly defended his decision to allow Brown to keep his operator’s licence.

Asked about his own party colleague’s actions, Mr Swinney told us: “The council group took their own decision and I welcome that decision, I think it was the right decision for them to take.

“I think that it’s important that the lessons of this are learnt very clearly and that we avoid situations like this happening ever again.”

The four women that voted against the licence decision at the time spoke to The Press and Journal together for the first time on Tuesday.

SNP councillors Lyndsey Johnston, Kate MacLean, Jackie Hendry, and Emma Knox spoke as a group following a meeting on the decision that lasted just 7 minutes and 48 seconds.

They confirmed they will stay on the licensing committee.

Ms Johnston said: “The only way to affect change is to be part of it.

“These other three ladies have been amazing.

“We took decisive action after that licensing committee and I think it was because of our decisive action that change was able to happen.”



Slightly different quote from Swinney in a BBC report:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyjlpjygdjo

Ah, I see - these quasi-judicial decisions are supposed to be taken on the basis of councillors' individual judgement, but Swinney thinks a senior politician providing 'clear leadership' is how it should be done


Ah, I see - the decision was taken as a political group

And, of course, wasn't one of the SNP councillors expelled as a result of the decision that was made?

Swinney might as well be saying that he and his party will decide how judges and juries decide criminal trials (or sheriffs up here)