Less fiddling while Rome burns than whooping it up in triumph while communities fight for their lives, the discredited LibDem group was to party at Ardrishaig last night (6th December 2010). The purpose was the celebration of the formal recognition at the Council meeting earlier in the day of their translation to joint power at Argyll and Bute Council as the middle man in the triumvirate of groups now forming THE ADMINISTRATION, for so it is to be known.
Their partners are the Tories and the Alliance of Independents.
The late and rightly celebrated historian , Ben Pimlott, in his seminal biography of Harold Wilson, spoke of the Labour Party members during the election campaign that brought them to power. In an unforgettable phrase he said: ‘The prospect of power made everybody’s fur shine’ – catching the sense of energised little busybodies.
And so it was at the Council meeting yesterday. The LibDem group could barely sit still – well, not exactly. The men sat rooted while the women – Councillors Alison Hay and Ellen Morton, dashed hither and thither, tossing their heads and smiling brightly – Queen Bee, Councillor Ellen Morton offering a flurry of quick little prompts and briefings to her male drones in the rear seats.
And the party was yet to come – once the power and the paid posts were assuredly in the bag.
This morning there is damage limitation to be done. Councillor Hay wrote a pleading little note to Glassary School in advance of yesterday’s meeting, asking to bring ‘the person who will be the new Education Spokesperson’ to the school tis morning on a fact finding mission.
This of course was to be – and is – Councillor Ellen Morton, Leader of the LIbDem pack and now titular Depute Leader of the Council. (The reality is Councillor Duncan Macintyre. It used to be Councillor George Freeman until Macintyre and a coupe of henchies got rid of him. Wonder why?)
The reality of this morning’s visit is damage limitation for the LibDems and for Cpuncillor Hay in particular – who needs to be seen to care. She will be asking for votes in May 2011 as the LibDem candidate for Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Election. Any bets?
This is the first of a series of such visits, designed to demonstrate to threatened schools how interested the LibDems really are in the schools they singlehandedly undermined by selling their votes for power in approving the fundamentally flawed closure proposals for public consultation.
School campaign teams are unlikely to forget this awkward little fact and should remember that these people can now do little for them – even it it were the intention.
The only route to survival for the rural communities facing the loss of their schools is evidence and a tight case against the proposals – with a determination to go as far as it proves necessary to get the evidenced justice of that case recognised.
Q: What do you get when you offer a Lib Dem a penny for his thoughts?
A: Change.
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I phoned the HQ of the Argyll and Bute Lib-dems yesterday to see if they had a copy of their manifesto but they told me they had sold out.
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I wonder if we have the most corrupt council in Scotland… or is it that Argyll & Bute is just more transparent than every one else?
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For Crazy She-Bat: The generality of local authorities is not inspiring – but Argyll and Bute has become a joke. We cannot be alone in being unwilling to accept that.
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we should demand an election, seeing as we dont have a council we voted for.
How do we go about that ?
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kgv has a very good point – what is the precedent here? If we had wanted these people in power we would have voted for them.
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Im with KGV here, I didnt vote for them. Why should we stand by as they rip the heart out of our county, and as for celebrating well thats just the limit, I dont know how they can show their faces in public
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Much like KGV and Islay I’d like to see them out, but it has to be said that we didn’t vote for the previous administration either as they only formed a coalition after the election, like the ConDems. Neither the Independents, or were they non-political then, nor the SNP said before the election that they would form a coalition with each other, which we could have decided whether to vote for or not. I’m never quite sure how you have a group of independents, bit like a group of anarchists, although in this case the anarchists would make a better job of it.
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At one time in the old Town Councils, they were basically all true independents capable of agreement on one hand or respectful debate on the other. They spoke FIRST AND FOREMOST for their ward with a fierce determination. Yes you must be switched on and sharp to be a successful councillor, but it borders on miraculous that they seldom disagree at least on the voting part. It would give greater credibility to ‘independents’ if they did occasionally have a good row. Very unatural the situ we have. Are they independent labour leaning, tories at heart, nationalist sympathisers or entertain lib dem principles.
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Part of the problem is the loss of the one Councillor per ward system , the multi member system is part of the problem as the schools issue has highlighted.
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Absolutely ‘Kintyre 1′. Lets get back to the old tried and tested system. Why was it changed anyway. Too many hiding places now.
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Argyll and Bute now has a right -wing cutting council to complement the Tory/LibDem cutting London Government.
This is hardly the sort of protection Argyll and Bute needs from Government cuts.
What I cannot get my head around is the fact that the leader of the Council met with the Scottish Government last week and were offered by the amazing John Swinney a cut in budget of only 2.6% (against some councils in England facing cuts of over 20%) yet they proceeded as if their backs were against the wall and put on the table a proposal for educational and social vandalism which had , in view of the offer from Swinney, absolutely no justification whatsoever.
As far as I’m concerned this is merely a return to a school cutting agenda which has been a prominent issue in Argyll and Bute whenever Cllrs Walsh, McIntyre et alia are in positions of control.
It wouldn’t take much to change the control of this council. Two or three members changing sides would rid Argyll and Bute of what is effectively a Tory minded administration.
Has anybody got the balls?
Pity the Council elections are not in May this year.
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It appears Dave McEwan Hill is as out of touch as ever . Almost without exception there is agreement that council elections should not be held at the same time as scottish parliament ones .
To claim that we have a right wing council is flying in the face of the facts . I suspect Dave thinks Donald Dewar was a dangerous right winger . Scottish political representatives are far to the left at present and we need look no further than Argyll & Bute SNPs councillors to confirm that fact eg none of them supported the right to buy council houses , none of them support a nuclear deterrant , none of them support the continuation of the Monarchy , none of them support tax reductions etc etc
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7. 12. 10. Nye Bevan, on Liberals, reported by the Observer 9th December 1953: ‘We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over.’ BY A SCHOOL BUS????
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Kimtyre1 – the SNP are now in opposition now so it doesn’t matter how left wing they are, Dave hill’s point was that the ruling adminstration is right wing. Tories – right wing, Lib Dems – same as Tories now, Independants – well wee Donnie once stood for the Tories, how many other of these Indies lean that way, quite a few I would guess by their words and actions.
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Former deputy leader of the council SNP councillor robert mcintyre hid behind an independent label for years before standing under the snp banner
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