Corrosive bullying should have no place in our modern politics

Listening to Portobello's newly elected councillor, Lorenzo Martinico, I wondered which Greens the Tory councillor Iain Whyte had in mind when in a rush of blood to the head last week, he described them as "extremists."

I don't think I've heard a more humble or appealing victory speech by an elected politician, as Cllr Martinico thanked his Porty neighbours for their vote, and Edinburgh as a city for what it's given him since arriving 12 years ago.

"So now I want to give back. Thousands like me weren't born here but have chosen to make it their home, and I hope today gives them hope when many feel unsafe because of their skin colour or religion or the way they speak." Amen to that.

Cllr Whyte says "immigration is placing a strain on homelessness services" and falsely claims that the SNP (which has no power in Edinburgh!) prioritises single young men for housing.

In fact the SNP says it's helping first time buyers: "Priority access is given to key groups – including social housing tenants, disabled people, older adults and armed forces veterans."

At council level, where his own Conservative party is effectively backing Labour, strict UK immigration regulations define who can get housing and it is quite rightly allocated according to need.

If the Conservative party had invested properly in affordable housing instead of selling council houses off over decades - and then denying those proceeds for new homes, we might not have a crisis.

But hey Iain, don't let that stop you from playing the anti-migrant card; it always works during tough times when ordinary people can be duped into thinking their problems are all caused by brown people in small boats.

As for Cllr Whyte's list of "extremist" Green policies – de-funding the police, "do away with" prisons (!), ignore the harms of hard drugs - I can't find any of them on the party's manifesto. But I guess if I you keep repeating lies eventually some people will come to believe them.

But words matter, and Cllr Whyte's aggressive tone is not worthy of a democratically elected politician. It's a tone reflected across our media, with the Herald columnist Kevin McKenna trash-talking the SNP last week, calling them a "dismal cohort of profoundly inept people in whose hands everything turns to crap".

This kind of bullying is dangerous and corrosive. Radio 4 reported this week how health workers are facing particular stress and strain, not just from understaffing and overwork, but from colleagues.

It's hard to believe, but a GP complained how their own colleagues were bullying her - and we now know that doctors on Lucy Letby's department apologised for bullying her prior to her conviction, one which many now believe is unsafe.

Any health worker can seek support from practitionerhealth.nhs.uk Judging from the website's positive testimonial stories, their service has been highly effective in helping health professionals heal themselves.

And let's all stop bullying each other. It leads to barbarism.