An Aberdeen MSP has called on a senior councillor to step down amid a bitter row over services for families with autistic children.
Labour finance convener for Aberdeen City Council, Willie Young, was accused of “gutter politics” by the SNP’s Mark McDonald after the pair clashed over delays in the local authority’s autism strategy.
Mr Young had earlier claimed the Donside MSP used his family as “political tools”.
Mr McDonald’s six-year-old son, Malcolm, suffers from autism, and the politician often campaigns to spread awareness of the condition.
In two social media posts Mr Young said it was “unbelievable” that Mr McDonald was “going on about autism” when he had overseen the closure of several city schools, referencing the closure of Raeden School for children with special needs in June 2011.
He then posted that “some people” never learn that “family (is) sacred.”
Last night Mr McDonald said it was time for him to stand down from his position.
He added: “I think it says an awful lot about the kind of man Councillor Young is that he would say such things.
“This again highlights the appalling personalisation that he injects into his politics.
“These comments are fairly unbecoming of any elected official at any level and Councillor Young should apologise because for too long he has been allowed to throw the most gratuitous personal insults.”
However, Mr Young refused to back down on his comments – and accused Mr McDonald of doing “more damage to education than any single councillor in the history of Aberdeen city council” between 2007 and 2012.
He said: “I will always say what I believe is the right thing. His administration closed school after school in regeneration areas.
“My worry is the effect that Mark McDonald has on his children when he so blatantly has a go at the council for its autism strategy and what we’re doing in respect of autism when he and his administration delayed the inclusion review for five years.
“I worry that because one of his children has autism he is using his power to try to highlight some of the failings he didn’t tackle when he was a councillor.”
The Scottish Labour Party sought to distance itself from the row last night. A spokesman said: “The content of Twitter messages from Councillor Young are his responsibility and a matter for him to comment on.”