The ugly face of an SNP/Lib Alliance

Mike Martin

Five years ago in 2003 the Liberal Party took control of Aberdeen City Council defeating Labour.

They adopted sharply different policies:

Adjusting the formula used for the special needs budget they directed resources away from poorer areas where it is most needed to wealthier areas.

They rejected the area expansion plan designed to address housing shortages pleasing those people in “desirable” areas who were concerned about the effect new development might have on the value of their properties.

They embarked on a series of expensive “prestige projects” including planning a third Don river road crossing and relocating the Council HQ to the Marischal College, Aberdeen’s most egregious white elephant.

They sold of the ground rent portfolio of three industrial estates to a Prudential subsidiary for £59.3 million thus irreversibly removing a useful income stream for the City.

In 2007 with a new voting system in place the Liberals lost seats but were still able to form an administration in alliance with the SNP. The new administration has pursued the same irresponsible policies as the previous one with the added ingredient of a badly handled Equal Pay deal.

The wheels came off the cart in February when the Council announced the 2008/09 budget which included £27m of cutbacks. The effects are drastic:
Between 60 and 80 teaching posts across the City have been liquidated and later the full scale of the cuts emerged in a confidential report proposing larger class sizes, a reduction in the numbers of teachers and less choice of subjects on the curriculum.

Funding has been withdrawn from the Glencraft workshop for the disabled and several care organisations including the homeless charity the Cyrenians which has had to close three centres in the city with the loss of 20 jobs.

Social work services, sports centres and libraries will also be affected. The art deco Bon Accord Baths and the ice rink have closed permanently and the art gallery will have opening hours restricted.

The cutbacks led to months of public protests with thousands taking to the streets in April and teachers at three Aberdeen secondary schools passed a motion of no confidence in the city council. The Cyrenians volunteers and staff set up a camp outside the council's Town House offices, claiming that the cuts will cost lives and send drug users back onto the streets.

The report by the Controller of Audit indicated "serious weaknesses" on the part of the Council which included the sale of assets for millions of pounds below their market value.

The Accounts Commission instructed Council leaders to report to a public hearing at which the groups affected by the budget cuts gave evidence. The outcome was the creation of an expert all-party Scrutiny Panel whose remit is to assist the Council to tackle its financial problems. The group includes council leaders and chief executives of other local authorities around the country and on their advice the Council recruited Philip Cotterill, a local government expert, on a £100,000 six-month contract, to tackle problems with social work and care services. On top of all that it was revelead that a report by the council's chief accountant put the budget shortfall at £49.7 million almost double the original £27million figure.

The Council have now initiated a program of voluntary redundancy and early retirement with hundreds of applications already received. The line coming from Swinney, Salmond and Brian Adam, the SNP MSP from Aberdeen North, has been to put the blame for the crisis onto previous administrations including, by insinuation, Labour. However, this does not stack up as Labour during 60 years of unbroken tenure had always worked within budget.

Members of the Labour group and across the Party are seeking ways to re-establish the services to vulnerable people and to scrap “prestige projects”. The also recognise the impact on staff morale due to the five years of disastrous policies and they are committed to listening to the workforce and a return to normality.

Although support for Labour across Scotland is at an all time low, the chaos in Aberdeen demonstrates that there is clear blue water between the SNP and a Labour administration with a social democratic flavour.

The trend in Scottish politics is for the electorate to polarise between Labour and the SNP. Support for the Greens and SSP/Solidarity has shifted to the nationalists whereas support for the Liberals appears to be redistributing to the Conservatives and Independents.

In this situation, with the middle ground squeezed out, a more radical social-democratic Labour Party could achieve a resurgence as the reality of SNP policies hits the electorate. However… this will be conditional on the Party dumping the disastrous policies of PFI and wealth redistribution in favour of the rich and setting a new course with a clear Alternative Economic Policy and plenty of left rudder.