Sending former council leader Cammy Day to represent Edinburgh to an international delegation earlier this month ‘made perfect sense, ‘ according to the city’s leader.

Along with fellow Labour councillor James Dalgleish and other city figures, Cllr Day met with 26 visiting councillors from Kaohsiung, Taiwan in Edinburgh.

The news came at the city’s Policy and Sustainability Committee on Tuesday, where council leader Jane Meagher said she put his name forward due to her being unable to attend.

Cllr Day resigned his role as council leader in December last year over allegations he had sent sexual messages to Ukrainian refugees living in the Capital.

He was also suspended by the Labour Party, but recently was readmitted to the party and their council group after he was cleared of any criminal behaviour by police in May.

SNP councillor Kate Campbell raised questions over why Cllr Day was in attendance, given the ‘widespread acknowledgement’ that he had carried out inappropriate behaviour.

Councillor Meagher said: “I wasn’t available for this, and it seemed to me to be a matter of common sense to include Councillor Day given his historical involvement and knowledge of our friendship agreement with [Kaohsiung].

“For that reason, it made perfect sense for him to be there, to help smooth the path between Cllr Dalgleish and the delegation, which I gather was extremely powerful and helpful.

“It made perfect sense not to exclude somebody who had done a considerable amount of work in developing this friendship agreement with Taiwan.”

Cllr Campbell had also asked about two Edinburgh University representatives in the delegation who had been unable to attend at the last minute due to ill health.

She said that she did not doubt that they were unwell, but asked whether a policy of notifying city partners of what councillors may be present at an event would be wise.

Council officer Chris Adams, who covers international relationships, said that the two representatives had been unwell, but that he did not have any more information about them.

Cllr Meagher added: “As far as Edinburgh University attendance is concerned, I don’t think we can draw any conclusions around their motives for not being able to attend.

“If we think about global politics, it might be that you draw conclusions related to that, rather than to any individuals who might be present.”

A large portion of Edinburgh University’s student body is from China, which does not recognise Taiwan as an independent country.

Mr Adams said Cllr Dalgleish was in attendance at the meeting in his civic duty as a Bailie, a representative of the Lord Provost.

And standing in for the Lord Provost, who was unable to attend, was another Bailie, James Douglas.

He said the university attendees had been set to discuss the research connections between Edinburgh University and universities in Asia.

He also said James McVeigh from Festivals Edinburgh was also in attendance, and that much of the conversation in the meeting was around how Edinburgh handles the festivals.

Cllr Meagher said she understood that the discussions were ‘extremely powerful and helpful’.

Edinburgh has a range of sister city and friendship agreements with cities around the globe, including Krakow, Dunedin, Kyiv and San Diego.

By Joseph Sullivan 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.

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