Scottish council bans the word ‘Tories’

Political rhetoric is fairly blunt in the west of Scotland but it seems one SNP councillor has gone too far. Tony Gurney, who represents the Nationalists on North Ayrshire Council, has been hauled over the coals for using a four-letter word: Tory.

At last week’s council meeting, Tory — sorry, Conservative — councillor Todd Ferguson raised a point of order over his opponent’s ‘derogatory’ language. Ferguson complained: ‘This is the second time… that Councillor Gurney’s referred to ‘Tories’. It’s a derogatory term and I’d prefer that he call us by our appropriate name, which is ‘the Conservatives’ or ‘the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party’.’

Councillor Gurney pointed out, not unreasonably, that the party’s Twitter handle is @ScotTories. However, the provost (the ceremonial head of the council and chair of meetings) sided with Ferguson, with the minutes recording his admonition that ‘members in future were recommended to use the term ‘Conservative’ or ‘Conservative and Unionist’.