Sending former council leader Cammy Day to represent Edinburgh to an international delegation earlier this month \u2018made perfect sense, \u2018 according to the city\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n
Along with fellow Labour councillor James Dalgleish and other city figures, Cllr Day met with 26 visiting councillors from Kaohsiung, Taiwan in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n
The news came at the city\u2019s Policy and Sustainability Committee on Tuesday, where council leader Jane Meagher said she put his name forward due to her being unable to attend.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
SNP councillor Kate Campbell raised questions over why Cllr Day was in attendance, given the \u2018widespread acknowledgement\u2019 that he had carried out inappropriate behaviour.<\/p>\n
Councillor Meagher said: \u201cI wasn\u2019t 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].<\/p>\n
\u201cFor 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt made perfect sense not to exclude somebody who had done a considerable amount of work in developing this friendship agreement with Taiwan.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Cllr Meagher added: \u201cAs far as Edinburgh University attendance is concerned, I don\u2019t think we can draw any conclusions around their motives for not being able to attend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we think about global politics, it might be that you draw conclusions related to that, rather than to any individuals who might be present.\u201d<\/p>\n
A large portion of Edinburgh University\u2019s student body is from China, which does not recognise Taiwan as an independent country.<\/p>\n
Mr Adams said Cllr Dalgleish was in attendance at the meeting in his civic duty as a Bailie, a representative of the Lord Provost.<\/p>\n
And standing in for the Lord Provost, who was unable to attend, was another Bailie, James Douglas.<\/p>\n
He said the university attendees had been set to discuss the research connections between Edinburgh University and universities in Asia.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Cllr Meagher said she understood that the discussions were \u2018extremely powerful and helpful\u2019.<\/p>\n
Edinburgh has a range of sister city and friendship agreements with cities around the globe, including Krakow, Dunedin, Kyiv and San Diego.<\/p>\n
By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter<\/p>\n