27/04/2023

Cllr David MacDonald has posted on facebook page

www.facebook.com/MacdonaldTheIndependent

Cllr David Macdonald - An Independent voice for people.
36 m ·

So far 7 councils have supported unanimously the campaign to ban disposable vapes in Scotland.

This campaign is fronted by Laura Young (lesswastelaura.com) and she approached me asking if I would bring a motion to full council to add her home council of East Renfrewshire to the growing list. (Laura is a Mearns Castle alumnus)

These disposable vapes are now everywhere in our streets.

They contain lithium, copper, aluminium and are encased in hard plastic.

They cannot be put in general waste.

They cannot be put in recycling bins.

They cannot be collected by waste trucks as many people do not know that if they are crushed they can ignite or explode.

When crushed they can also leave dangerous shards of metal on the ground and dogs can be injured, children can pick them up and injure themselves and they can easily puncture car tyres.

Last night I presented my motion to full council hoping that in the spirit of collaboration all councillors would support it as all of their party colleagues have in 7 other councils.

I was wrong.

Because something is wrong within our chamber.

Some of our councillors don't want to collaborate on anything just because they want to chest beat like primates and win a vote. Even if that vote is on something completely apolitical.

This clip will give you an understanding of how things played out after it was made clear that the Conservatives were going to put up an amendment against banning them and allowing them to continue to litter our streets.

To add insult to injury the Labour leader of East Ren council Owen O'Donnell jumped up on the Tory leader's lap like a good dog for a cuddle and ordered his group but one, who abstained, to support it.

Those that did not support the call for a ban were Labour leader Owen O'Donnell and all four of his labours party colleagues.

The Conservatives also unanimously voted for these single use electronic devices to be continued to be sold and then littered across our communities.

You see that's the problem. Owen O'Donnell is a weak leader of this council.

He can't stand on his own two feet and make a decision.

When the Tories tell him to jump, he jumps.

Why?

Because the Tories own him now politically speaking.

Because I left the administration he now has to rely on them to get his crucial votes over the line and if he goes off piste, on anything, even something as apolitical as this, he fears the Tories will withdraw their votes to keep his minority administration in office.

Your council is being run by a man who is jumping to the tune of another party he doesn't even belong to.

Labour will always now support the Tories on every motion or amendment they put forward and in exchange for that the Tories will get key policy votes over the line for Labour.

To their credit the SNP members saw sense to support this motion and I thank Cllr Ireland for seconding it.

I also thank other SNP members who spoke in support of the motion.

Next time you see disposable vapes strewn everywhere in the street in East Renfrewshire remind yourself of the fact that this weak Labour leader and his administration along with the Tories did not support a motion to call on the Scottish government to ban them.

East Renfrewshire is now the first council in Scotland to reject the call for a ban.

This should not have been political but sadly Labour and the Tories turned it into a shameful political circus act.

I have already spoken to members of Labour and the Conservatives in some of the other council areas and they are left scratching their heads at their colleagues in East Ren for not getting behind this.

What an embarrassment.


++++++
A recording of Full Council Meeting is available on Council youtube channel

www.youtube.com/user/eastrenfrewshire/videos


+++++++

28/04/2023

Cllr Annette Ireland has several posts on facebook page regarding this

en-gb.facebook.com/annettesnp/

Cllr Annette Ireland is at East Renfrewshire Council.
1 d · Giffnock ·
I’m so incredibly disappointed but unfortunately not surprised.
Labour and the Tories voted together, yet again, tonight against our motion with Councillor Macdonald that East Renfrewshire show support for a ban on disposable vapes.
Labour showing, yet again, that they are a puppet administration run by the Tories. #VoteLabourGetTory


Cllr Annette Ireland
1 d ·
Utterly shocking display of tribal politics last night in East Renfrewshire Council.
Independent Councillor Cllr David Macdonald proposed a motion to call for a ban on disposable vapes. This was supported by myself and the rest of the SNP group.
Eastwood Labour and East Renfrewshire Conservatives voted against this motion despite it going through 7 other councils unopposed and supported by members of all parties.
In East Renfrewshire Council, it’s clear Labour are in administration but the Tories are in charge.

29/04/2023

Published Barrhead News On Line -

www.barrheadnews.com/news/

Councillor reacts to ban of disposable vapes being rejected
28th April

By Ben Waddell
@benwaddell123
Reporter

AN East Renfrewshire councillor has said she is “so disappointed” after calls for a ban on disposable vapes have been rejected.

The motion, which called on the council to write to the Scottish Government to urge them to ban single-use vapes, was proposed by independent councillor David MacDonald and SNP councillor Annette Ireland.

We previously reported that the calls were rejected by East Renfrewshire Council after the Conservatives argued they are “preventing deaths".

Nine councils, including Glasgow and Renfrewshire, have agreed to write to the Scottish Government, which is reviewing the impact of single-use vapes, to support a ban on them.

Expressing disappointment in the decision, Councillor Annette Ireland for Clarkston, Netherlee, and Williamwood, said: “Single-use disposable vapes should be banned.

“They are an enormous environmental issue and this, coupled with the uptake of vaping amongst our young people, is extremely worrying.

“They are simply creating a new generation of nicotine users here in East Renfrewshire.

“I am so disappointed that Labour supported the Conservatives amendment to support their sale."

I watched the full council meeting on Council TV. This was a stupid motion submitted by Cllr Macdonald who should know better. The leader of the council admonished him and said "if he had spoken to both the administration and the Tories prior to the meeting he could have achieved a consensous, but he did not". Even the admin Cllr who abstained said that if both Macdonalds motion and Edlins amendment had been conjoined she would have voted for it. This was about pollution according to Macdonalds motion. Not about health, and it did not speak to the abuse of vapes by children. By ommission it appeared to imply that adults were responsible for the disposal of vapes. Refered to the girl who is highlighting the amount of vapes discarded in the vicinity of MCHS, but Macdonald did not refer directly to "children abusing vaping, underage". Macdonald appart from his attempt at acting by holding his head etc, went in the huff. He has done his apparent usual, did not attend the chamber in person, sat at home and used the video link. He asked the chair, Provost Montague why she had put his motion back on the agenda from item 5 to last. He was not happy when she said she had used her discression. He then appeared to throw off his slippers, jump in his car and drive the three minutes to the chamber to take part, in presence, with the debate. (He lives the closest to the chamber of all 18 Cllrs)