An SNP councillor who branded a political rival a “new Scot” has been cleared of breaching a code of conduct.
Kairin van Sweeden made the remark against Labour’s Deena Tissera during an Aberdeen City Council meeting in 2023 and was later forced to apologise.
Sri Lanka-born Tissera branded the comments as “nothing less than racism”. She described herself as “shocked” after the Nationalist was cleared by a watchdog this week.
The SNP councillor initially referred herself to the Ethical Standards Commissioner which found she did breach the code of conduct, but a separate watchdog, the Standards Commission for Scotland has now found she did not breach the code, and no action will be taken.
van Sweeden told the meeting of the Standards Commission that she was surprised by the reaction to her comments.
The panel acknowledged that the reference to a “New Scot” distinguished Tissera from someone who was born in Scotland or who had lived in the country for a long time. But they concluded she did not intend to be offensive, disrespectful or discriminatory.
Tissera said she was “shocked and disappointed” by the decision.
van Sweeden – who stepped back from her SNP party membership while her conduct was investigated – said she wanted to thank the Standards Commission for a “careful reading” of the evidence and “forensic scrutiny” of it.
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