Scottish Greens Orkney councillor stripped of membership amid Middle East conflict views

An Orkney councillor claims he has been stripped of his Scottish Greens membership after sharing comments about the conflict in the Middle East.

John Ross Scott, councillor for Kirkwall East, says he was “ostracized” from the party over comments he made on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating his belief that Hamas should be classed as a terrorist organisation.

The Scottish Green Party was approached about his claims and has confirmed that Mr Scott is not a member of the party.

The LDR has also read the letter Mr Scott was sent by the Green Party, notifying him about his membership being terminated.

Mr Scott claims that “his views that Hamas and Hezbollah should remain classed as terrorist groups and that Israel should have the right to defend its boundaries” is against the Scottish Greens view and that his comments annoyed two of his Green colleagues who lodged a complaint with the party.

The Greens have called for the removal of Hamas from the designation as a terrorist organisation.

Mr Scott says he intends to pursue an appeal against the decision.

He has said his “main grievance” is how the ban was implemented.

“I don’t want to say much regarding the appeal”, he said.

“My concern is that the processes used by the party to ban me appear to break protocol and are fundamentally flawed.”

Mr Scott joined the Greens in March 2021. Before that, he was elected to the council as an independent in 2017.

He was one of only two party-affiliated councillors in Orkney council, with the other being his fellow Green, Kristopher Leask.

His claims continue: “I was made aware of the complaint and that a small investigations panel had been set up to deal with the case.

“But I was not invited to the hearing and not asked for my side of the story.”

He said that “only a small scrap of unsubstantial evidence was shared, I was not told who was on the panel, and the decision to ban me on October 8th was relayed to my branch and sub-branch when really I should have been notified first.

“I went off for a ten-day holiday on October 15.

“So, I did not officially learn of my expulsion until October 28.”

Councillor Scott said he wishes to “clear his name” but will continue serving as a local councillor.