A party political row is brewing between a local councillor and Cunninghame North’s MSP following the flooding problems in the south of England.

Kenneth Gibson MSP expressed shock at the views given by the North Coast and Cumbraes Labour Councillor Alex Gallagher on his personal Twitter feed in relation to the storm. But in, turn, Cllr Gallgher accused MSP Gibson of ‘stalking’ his Twitter account.

During the unprecedented storms last week, which battered England and Wales, Cllr. Gallagher tweeted: “How many people in the Thames Valley voted for ‘smaller government’? But now they’ve got flooding ... do they still want smaller government?” Mr Gibson then issued a statement which said: “I am astonished at Councillor Gallagher’s shameful comments, which represent a new low.

“I would have thought that Councillor Gallagher might have been able to find it within himself to show a little bit more compassion for people in England currently affected by flooding, especially given the incidence of flooding experienced in the North Coast in recent years.

“Instead, Councillor Gallagher seems to be gloating, blaming the victims for apparently having had the temerity to vote for parties other than Labour.

“One wonders what his opinion is of the 82% of electors in North Coast and Cumbraes who chose to vote for a candidate other than him in 2010.

“Councillor Gallagher should reflect on his lack of empathy and perhaps think outside party politics when commenting on circumstances that have caused such misery to hundreds of families.” When Mr Gibson’s comments were relayed to Cllr. Gallagher, he responded: “Last year Alex Salmond, at FMQs, quoted some lines from a letter I had written to a national newspaper. Now I find that Kenny Gibson is stalking my twitter account to find things to be offended by. I don’t know whether to be flattered or amused that the Nationalists are apparently trawling the internet and hanging on my every word in this way.” “I will not engage in a personal slanging match with Mr Gibson, however I would be happy to debate serious politics with him in the pages of the Largs and Millport Weekly News. The debate could be conducted by email and moderated by the newspaper. Beginning with the topic of the day, I would ask Kenny Gibson: what currency he expects Scotland to use if we take his advice and vote for “independence?

“His ideas on the currency could be published next week and, with the indulgence of the editor, I would reply at similar length the following week. In future weeks we could cover other topics. In this way, by the back-and-forth nature of the argument, your readers may get some idea of the issues involved and the facts behind them. I look forward to Mr Gibson’s long, and perhaps even erudite, response on the currency in next week’s wee paper.” Mr Gibson responded: “Talk about a body swerve! I don’t even use Twitter and have never looked at any of his tweets, website or whatever; his tweet was sent to me by a constituent appalled at his callous and politically sectarian remark about the flooding down south.

“He should reflect upon that remark and apologise for making it!