Calling all decent Alba members - please help put a stop to this vile personal abuse, which in one case seems to be coming from a very senior Alba figure

As has been well-rehearsed, the "reasons" Chris McEleny came up with for my expulsion from the Alba Party were almost comically vague - his disciplinary referral document dated 30th September was an absolute embarrassment.  However, one detail (of sorts) that was later specified by Corri Wilson is that I was expelled partly under the terms of the Alba social media policy.  I therefore pursued that point in my appeal, because it was far from clear to me, or to others I checked with, whether the social media policy actually has any constitutional force as a set of hard-and-fast "disciplinary rules".  In many places it reads more like an aspirational or motivational document, with lots of flowery language.  For example, here's an extract - 

"We are direct, confident, and proud in what we have to say – we speak boldly and with clear intention."

How would you actually go about enforcing that as a rule?  Would you take disciplinary action against Alba members for not being "bold" or "proud" enough?  It's clearly a nonsense, and yet the Appeals Committee showed no interest whatsoever in engaging with the questions I raised about whether the social media policy is enforceable.  Therefore it must be assumed that it is enforceable, and these other extracts must be taken very seriously indeed - 

"if comments become abusive, we will report them"

"Special care needs to be taken by members who have chosen an ALBA party logos or pictures as a cover photo or profile picture as they may appear to the public as representing the ethos and values of ALBA."

"Social-Media Platforms like Twitter can be fast and furious but being abusive to individuals online should be regarded as a red line whether it is in an exchange with fellow members or those outside the party."

I am now outside the party, but as you can see that makes no difference - the position is apparently that Alba members can and should be disciplined for abuse of someone like me.  I have today been abused on Twitter by someone who is almost certainly an Alba member.  He calls himself "Bill Under Colonial Rule", and he prominently displays the Alba logo in his account's cover photo.

If there are any decent Alba members reading this, I'd be grateful if you would report Bill for this blatant breach of the Code of Conduct and social media policy.  Because Chris McEleny has an absolute veto under the current rules on whether complaints ever reach the Disciplinary Committee, I'm afraid the complaint will need to be made to him in the first instance.  Please let me know if you do that and what the response is (if any).  Incidentally, it doesn't matter if you don't know Bill's full name, because according to the Colin Alexander precedent, McEleny should still investigate to discover the man's identity and then take action against him once his Alba membership status is established.

I believe it may be technically the case that non-members can lodge complaints too, so if all else fails I'll try to do that myself, but it'll almost certainly be a waste of time, because McEleny's modus operandi is to completely ignore emails if he feels he can get away with it.

However, there's an even more serious case than Bill that urgently needs to be raised.  A Twitter account popped up a couple of weeks ago called "Alba 2026" to support Kenny MacAskill in the leadership election.  It has posted extreme personal abuse about me, Denise Findlay, Leanne Tervit and several others, but by far the worst tweet, which undoubtedly should result in disciplinary action in any political party, is this one mocking Eva Comrie's disability - 

That tweet was hastily deleted a few hours ago, and now the whole account seems to have been deactivated.  I believe that has happened because people started to clock who was behind the account.  The writing style and set of preoccupations are obvious giveaways, as indeed is the retweet about Imran Khan - not a subject that most Alba troll accounts would take much interest in.  I believe this person is a very senior member of the Alba Party, a former NEC member and a former national office bearer. 

So if you're a current Alba member, I'd also be grateful if you'd lodge a complaint with McEleny about "Alba 2026" and invite him to establish her identity.  And please let me know what the response is.

*  *  *

I launched the Scot Goes Pop fundraiser for 2025 at the weekend, and so far the running total stands at £581, meaning that 9% of the target of £6800 has been raised.  If you'd like to help Scot Goes Pop continue with poll analysis and truly independent political commentary for another year, donations are welcome HERE.  Direct Paypal donations can also be made - my Paypal email address is:   jkellysta@yahoo.co.uk