A Labour councillor has blamed a “shocking” ethics probe into him for a heart attack that nearly ended his life.
George Redmond, who exposed the scandal of golden goodbyes to Glasgow Council executives, said the Standards Commission was being “weaponised” to settle old scores.
A complaint accusing Redmond of disclosing confidential information about the hiring of a new chief executive was made in 2024 - claims he strenuously denied.
Investigation and heart attack
The investigation into Redmond was carried out by the separate Ethical Standards Commissioner and then referred to the Standards Commission.
The Standards Commission initially decided to hold a hearing in 2025 but it was postponed after the councillor suffered a heart attack.
The case was dropped earlier this year after the Commission decided “no further action” would be taken.
Redmond, who said he spent £5,000 in legal bills defending himself, hit out at the process. He said: “I was told by the consultant at the hospital that this had a direct impact on me having a heart attack. I believe it as well.
“The Standards Commission has been weaponised to try and silence people. It was weaponised to silence me.
“I blame the Standards Commission. If this was a police case, it would never have got to the procurator fiscal. The senior police officers would have dismissed it straight away.”
Councillor's defence and criticism
“It is our job to highlight flaws in the system. It is our job to scrutinise and hold people to account.”
“What we are seeing here is if people do not like the scrutiny they will report you. It is bang out of order.”
He added: “People shouldn’t be subjected to this. You are putting people off from serving their communities. It is absolutely shocking. It stinks.”
The Standards Commission said: "The Standards Commission did not initiate any probe or complaint. A complaint about Cllr Redmond, concerning a potential breach in confidentiality, was made by another councillor to the Ethical Standards Commissioner (ESC), being an independent and separate officeholder. Following his investigation, the ESC referred the matter to the Standards Commission.
"The Standards Commission, in undertaking its statutory role as outlined in the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) 2000 scheduled a Hearing to adjudicate on the complaint. This was adjourned following a request from Cllr Redmond’s legal representative who advised that Cllr Redmond was suffering from ill health.
"The Standards Commission was advised at a meeting, attended by Cllr Redmond’s legal representative and Cllr Redmond, that while Cllr Redmond wished to clear his name and defend himself from the allegation at the Hearing, he was not in a position to do so for the foreseeable future due to his health. The Standards Commission agreed to cancel the Hearing on that basis."
Background of the golden goodbye scandal
Redmond, who was first elected in 1999, believes he has made enemies on the council after uncovering the exit payment scandal at the top of the local authority.
Five senior figures on the council received more than £1m in early retirement and redundancy pay-outs from restructuring proposals which did not receive any independent scrutiny.
The staff who left the council between 2021 and 2024 included former chief executive Annemarie O'Donnell, who later repaid the sums she received.
The total payments for the five totalled £268,000 in redundancy and £770,000 in extra pension costs.
The Accounts Commission watchdog later criticised the approval of the payments.
Deputy chairman Andrew Burns said: “The actions taken by a group of senior staff at Glasgow City Council fell short of the values and principles every public sector worker and councillor are expected to follow.
“There was a failure to address and document how potential conflicts of interest were considered.
“A failure to demonstrate how the guiding principles of working in the public sector – in particular selflessness, integrity and objectivity – had been applied.
“It is alarming to see reports which need to consider the lawfulness of actions within councils, and such circumstances do little to reassure taxpayers about how public money is being used."
In 2024, Redmond told the Record he and Labour colleague Paul Carey received a “chilling” whistleblower letter alleging a “target” was on their back for asking questions.
The letter stated: "I believe you should be aware that it is being made known among senior officers that if they have dealings with either of you and anyone thinks you have over stepped the line or bounds of your authority we are to notify our line managers immediately.
"It is quite clear that you have a target on your backs particularly Councillor Carey as they are very uncomfortable about the scrutiny he puts into everything.
“I think that it is absolutely disgusting that they are targeting elected members for doing their job."
