"Aye, right!" - council boss blamed over 31 jobless in Easter Ross

Highland Council's Leader is taking flack on social media after controversial comments she made about jobless workers in Easter Ross. Margaret Davidson's administration was already under fire for switching a waste recycling council contract from a local company in Evanton, with a French firm. That caused 31-staff at Munro's to be laid off because multi-national SUEZ claimed it does not legally have to take on the affected workers. When MFR News was still recording during an interview with the councillor, the local authority Leader pointed the finger at the jobless group's former employer, accusing it of not planning for the end of their contract. In a live mic gaffe Margaret said: "Munro's have just turned round and gone 'it's all the council's fault' - aye, right!" But Munro's was given just two hours' notice that the contract was not going to be renewed via email at 22:04 on a Friday evening last month, and workers turning up on Monday morning were left "despondent" according to Munro's site manager Deborah Lambourne. She told MFR News: "They've been treated badly. It's not fair. No time is a good time for this sort of thing to happen, but right on top of Christmas as well, it's shocking."