Since the 2003 elections the main committee in the Council had been the Policy and Resources Committee. It consisted of 25 Labour councillors and 4 opposition (one from each party). This was not entirely fair but it did allow a debate and vote before major decisions were made. Then in early 2006 Labour proposed to replace the Policy & Resources Committee with an Executive Committee which would have 16 Labour councillors and no opposition.

The SNP felt this was a step too far and was undermining democracy. So John Mason protested by sitting in the Lord Provost’s chair on 29 June five minutes before the Council was due to meet. This had the effect of delaying the Council for 30 minutes while an alternative room was prepared.

On Wednesday 7 March, the Standards Commission held a hearing in Glasgow. Their decision was that Cllr Mason had breached the Code of Conduct and should be suspended for 9 months. However, the legislation only allows suspension until the next election so is restricted to 15 March to 3 May. As John Mason’s “salary” will be cut during his suspension, he will only lose £1,500 instead of £9,000 if the suspension had been for the full 9 months.

After the Hearing Cllr Mason said, “I argued that councillors have other duties as well as fulfilling the Code of Conduct. These duties include defending democracy and standing up to a majority abusing its power. However, the tribunal has stuck to the letter of the law and has failed to see the bigger picture. I do not believe the citizens of Glasgow want to live in a one party state. That is what I was trying to prevent. I am certainly glad that the tribunal’s intention of fining me £9,000 has been thwarted by the timing of the election. However, I did what I believed was right, I will pay the penalty, and I would do exactly the same again if I needed to.”