Furious councillors have walked out of a meeting over a ‘virtue signalling’ motion which initially asked West Lothian Council to fly the Palestinian flag above the council chambers but ulitmately only backed calls for a ceasefire in the middle east.
The composite motion agreed by Linlithgow’s Lib Dem councillor Sally Pattle, Independent Andrew McGuire, the Labour group and the SNP group, calls for an end to rocket fire in and out of Gaza, release of hostages, water food and medicine to be supplied without delay, and negotiations toward a two-state settlement.
Councillor Pattle agreed to drop an initial proposal to fly the Palestinian flag outside Livingston’s Civic Centre in order to win support from the Labour administration group in a composite motion.
But Conservative councillors, furious that the motion was tabled amid a marathon meeting of the full council on Tuesday, said that they would leave the chamber rather than enter a debate.
And local Tory leader Damian Doran-Timson branded “virtue signalling”.
He took his group, which has a loose “confidence and supply” coalition with the minority Labour administration, out of the council chambers. The four members included the depute Provost Peter Heggie
Speaking from outside the chamber, Councillor Doran-Timson called the decision to debate Palestine “an insult to the residents and communities of West Lothian.”
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the current situation in the middle east was “appalling and devastating “and added: “This was triggered on 7 October 2023 and nearly a year later some councillors wanted to fly the Palestinian flag at West Lothian Council.”
He continued: “Irrespective of people’s views on the middle east the public of West Lothian want their elected councillors to deal with local issues such as housing, RAAC , potholes and other matters, not with virtue signalling by the councillors that brought this motion forward.”
Councillor Pattle told the meeting: “I don’t believe that we should stay silent so rather than this being about virtue signalling this is us as a council recognising a desperate situation and calling for peace.”
She said that what was happening is “increasingly horrifying, and the undeniable truth is that the conflict is spreading”.
She added: “I am so glad for all the elected members in this chamber now we have all agreed unanimously on this statement. I think it is really important.”
“I know that as a local authority we have no power to influence these matters, but I also feel that something like this is too important. We cannot stay silent as the situation continues to worsen. and I have been so pleased to see the cross-party agreement mainly that we have managed to get on this.
“I hope it shows communities across West Lothian that we stand in support of both Palestine and Israel and our strongest wish is for peace in the middle east and a two-state solution so that those lives shattered by this escalation can start to be rebuilt.”
Councillor McGuire who seconded the motion said: “My extreme thanks to Councillor Pattle for making sure that this has happened. The cooperation that has been shown by Councillor Stafford [SNP group depute leader] has been fantastically well received. Also, thanks to Councillor Fitzpatrick [Council and Labour group leader].
“There’s nothing we can do to influence the conflict, but I think it sends a statement of intent that we as elected politicians want to see peace and we want to see people live happy and prosperous lives; whether that’s here in West Lothian or whether that’s in the middle east.”
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
