Well , I think tonight's meeting proved what a complete farce this motion was. The paper on the quango was already to be discussed so this was no more than a vehicle to attack the Scottish Government . We basically had the same matter discussed twice.

Cllr Macdonald asked twice in two separate debates whether members of the Quango would be paid. TWICE he asked , only to be informed that the report (which he might be expected to have read) stated in black and white that they would not be paid.

But of course , this was the Jim Swift show as per usual and as predicted ahead of time. Did he confuse the council chamber with an after dinner speech he thought he was making somewhere?

So if you missed the meeting , here's the highlights.

Fletcher makes condescending remarks
Swift makes condescending remarks
Miller makes condescending remarks
Buchanan makes condescending remarks
Wee Paul makes condescending remarks

Repeat the above on a loop for ninety minutes and that's yer meeting folks!

Newsline has now had an opportunity to watch the webcast.

In our opinion democracy in East Ren would appear to be in question.

Provost Fletcher blocks two elected members from getting answers to their questions.

• Why has Cllr Convery resigned from Barrhead housing board.

Provost or is it still leader Fletcher says they will not be told in the televised open meeting.

Conservative group leader Stewart Miller read out the report from the chief auditor and said that the internal control of finances is adequate and effective, with the exception of creditors.

However he made no mention of the circumstances surrounding Cllrs expenses.

The specific wording used can be accessed on the council webcam site.

Meanwhile a replacement for Cllr Convery is sought to be appointed to the board of Barrhead housing as she is leaving the board.

This is thought to be somewhat unusual as she was only appointed a few months ago.

Cllr Devlin asked the reason why she was leaving and is told by the Provost that he will not get an answer in the public forum but to ask Cllr Convery privately at the conclusion of the meeting.

Cllr Ireland was quickly nominated to replace her by Leader Buchanan.

Throughout the meeting, in our opinion there were indications that Jim Fletcher was acting as chair and leader. This has been noticed at previous meetings also where it was felt by some observers that some of his decisions and comments should possibly have been made by the leader and not him.

Begging the question, who is the true leader?.

There is an individual who is being paid for the role, yet it appears to some that Cllr Fletcher has not actually handed over the role in its entirety.