Purcell Pursuances
Glasgow City Council may have shied clear of investigating contracts drawn up by Steven Purcell but all is not quiet on that score.
One of Steven’s network of gay friends is under the microscope at this moment.
The Major Crimes and Terrorism group is investigating how Ruth Black, a recent convert to Labour, managed to leave her position as manager of the lesbian and gay drop-in Castro centre a mere six months before it went bankrupt for £300,000 and then remerge as head of the phoenix like new Castro centre – again a drop in centre for gay and lesbians with guaranteed funding of £50,000 a year from a committee chaired by Steven Purcell.
Ruth Black, a Glasgow City Councillor herself, appointment raised some eyebrows even amongst the gay community, since the £300,000 that the old Castro centre was forced into bankruptcy over was a loan from the same Glasgow council towards a £1,000,000 refurbishment of the centre.
Not only that, but at the time her bid was accepted, the newly formed Castro bid was unconstituted, so in effect Glasgow Council was granting funding to one of its own councillors to enable it to take over a facility that had failed under her leadership a mere six months beforehand.
Glasgay, yet another lesbian and gay organisation in Glasgow, was bitterly opposed to her appointment, not least because she had banned the centre from distributing copies of ‘Scotsgay’ the monthly magazine designed to inform Glasgow’s burgeoning gay population of the delights that lay ahead of them. Apparently the magazine was somewhat too graphic in describing those delights for Ruth Black’s taste. One of the reasons given for banning the magazine was that the centre opens its doors to children as young as 11, 12, and 13, and we may indeed wonder at the attraction such a centre holds for children as young as this. Are all the centre’s employees CRB checked?
The centre moved to the new purpose designed premises after the old one was wrecked. By the Lesbian Mother’s Group? The Older Lesbians Group? The Bisexual Group? The Cross Dressers Group? The mind boggles.
The Major Crimes and Terrorism group are going to find this a minefield of flying handbags and hysterical counter accusation. I wish them luck; it is at least a start in unravelling Mr Purcell’s network of friends and colleagues.
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1
April 10, 2010 at 13:14 -
…..and the chances of the plod and CPS, many of whom will live in the area, actually taking this highly political case all the way to any sort of trial are?
1 in 100?
1 in 1000?
zero?
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2
April 10, 2010 at 15:03 -
Vince Cable was a Labour Councillor on Glasgow City Council.
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3
April 10, 2010 at 16:44 -
The tip of the iceberg….
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4
April 10, 2010 at 19:41 -
The flavoured tip of the iceberg, Rab?
More to come, allegedly, in tomorrows Sundays.
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5
April 10, 2010 at 22:20 -
“…..and the chances of the plod and CPS, many of whom will live in the area, actually taking this highly political case all the way to any sort of trial are?
1 in 100?
1 in 1000?
zero?”
Officially- no Investigation . Unofficially – All over it.
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6
April 11, 2010 at 10:57 -
“…new purpose designed premises…”
Whaaaat????!!!!
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7
April 11, 2010 at 11:49 -
That’s quite a whiff comin’ aff yer post hen.
Flyin’ handbags? Hysterical accusations? Castin’ aspertions as tae why gay bairns should want tae visit a gay centre?
If we’re gaun tae get that big coked-up clown we’re gaun tae have tae dae better than this.
And by the by, thae eyebrows werenae raised. They were painted oan.
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8
April 11, 2010 at 12:03 -
I can see you are a -glass half full kind of person Sophia.
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9
April 11, 2010 at 12:08 -
Half-fu? At this time oan a Sunday? An’ me jist back fae the kirk?
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10
April 11, 2010 at 12:59 -
That’s a very candide view Sophia.
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11
April 11, 2010 at 13:15 -
Perhaps Glasgow should be renamed Corruptionville?
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12
April 11, 2010 at 16:46 -
Gays in Glasgow? Never. This cannae be true.
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13
April 11, 2010 at 17:22 -
What a load of rubbish. Does no one do serious research or writing anymore. Lynn Sheridan, sister of Tommy published a letter on the former LGBT site over a year ago about how the project had to close. The year before that they were recruiting for the post Ruth Black used to hold as a good friend of mines was interviewed for it. So if they are saying that Ruth only left 6 months prior to the Castro bid winning (October or such 2009) Ruth would have had to have left the project in April last year…. well my mates interview was in 2008! Come on hen, dont just copy and paste from the Daily Record adding your own we bits of sarcasm!
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