Lib Dem councillor "I was treated unfairly"
A Lib Dem councillor who resigned this afternoon after his party accused him of sharing extremist material said he had not been given a fair hearing.
The Highland Lib Dem group said Drew Millar of Skye shared material from far-right group Britain First on facebook.
Mr Millar said he did not think the material was from Britain First and claimed he had no intention of "stirring up religious hatred".
Mr Millar, who has been a councillor for almost 25 years, serving 10 years for the Lib Dems, said he was disappointed that the group chose to remove him from his committees without giving him a chance to face the complaints body.
He said: "Innocent until proven guilty does not apply as far as the Lib Dems in Inverness are concerned.
"There were some photos I shared which they said were aligned with anti-muslim sentiment. I don’t agree with that. But obviously, one of the things that I shared that I did sort of agree with was a comment that Mr Clegg was a cretin, which probably did not help my case.
"I think I will probably be better off being independent. I will continue to serve the people of Skye and Lochalsh as an Independent to the best of my ability."
In a statement the Lib Dem group said: "In early October, the Group was made aware that Cllr Drew Millar of Skye had shared with friends on his Facebook page images and comments which came from Britain First, an extreme right wing organisation. This was anti-Islamic material used by Britain First to stir up religious hatred.
"The Group immediately acted to make the Convener of the Scottish Liberal Democrats aware of this and he initiated the process of investigating the complaint. Under party rules this is a matter for the Office Bearers of the National Executive, who have an obligation to follow due process and conduct the investigation in a thorough and impartial manner.
"Due to the nature of the material, Cllr Millar was given the opportunity to voluntarily stand aside from his position as Chair of the Community Safety, Public Engagement & Equalities Committee while the investigation was underway.
"He declined to do so and has subsequently resigned from the Lib Dem Group on Highland Council and resigned his membership of the Liberal Democrats.
"The Group will now nominate a new chair of the CPE Committee. This is a formal decision for the full Highland Council which meets on 30th October.
"In the strongest possible terms, the Liberal Democrat Group condemns the dissemination of such material as utterly reprehensible and wholly unacceptable. It has no place in our free and tolerant society and any councillor, from any political party, should face swift and appropriate action when found to be breach of stringent regulations governing the conduct of Members."
