Steve Finan on Angus Council chaos and Dundee whispers
How entertaining it has been to watch the Angus version of Fawlty Towers playing out another episode of high farce.
Who is in what job on Angus Council? Who is in which party? Who has any credibility left?
The councillors decided they had no confidence in each other. That, at least, reflects the way their constituents feel.
And, believe me, the chaos isn't finished.
Angus has a rookie councillor, who is ex-SNP, leading a coalition with eight Tories in it.
What could possibly go wrong?
The only sensible thing any of them has said came on Tuesday.
Derek Wann (who at time of writing was deputy council leader – though this might have changed two or three times by now) stated: 'Council priorities based solely on party political affiliation can no longer be the norm.'
Absolutely right (although I don't think he realised he'd effectively said: 'I should resign').
Party affiliation has no bearing on where flood defences are built, or how to combat coastal erosion, or which potholes to fill in.
A clash of personalities between two independents remains a two-person thing.
A clash within a party creates allies, enemies, factions, backstabbing, manoeuvring, and an utter inability to do the job properly.
Dundee suffers similarly.
I am continually passed whispers about tensions within Dundee's SNP group – who hates who, and who pretends not to.
It is tedious. The petty ploys of badly-behaved children.
But we are left with important decisions being taken by people who think snide comments about the dress sense of colleagues is 'doing politics'.
Get them out. Vote for an independent. A real person.
Judge candidates on their strength of character, debating skills, and original ideas.
Don't vote for a robot who can only do what their party allows and only think what their party tells them to think.
I cannot understand how these councillors can bear to be so downtrodden, so subservient, so lacking in personality that they can't speak for themselves.
How do they justify it to friends and families? How can they have self-respect?
Most of the no-marks who become party candidates were selected due to the number of times they turned up to stuff leaflets through letterboxes on rainy days.
To me, that's not a good enough qualification for a job that requires the ability to negotiate, co-operate, innovate, and find solutions.
There are some real duds on Dundee and Angus councils.
In some cases, they've been given promoted roles, which leave them achingly out of their depth.
I'll tell you how to spot them.
Count the number of times a councillor has voted against party orders.
Count the times they decided, for themselves what they think, or put forward a proposal contrary to what their group leader dictated.
If the answer is zero, then you can see they believe they work for the good of their party not their constituents.
Do you disagree?
Instead of just throwing empty insults at me (amusing though that is), point out one councillor who is a free thinker with the intelligence and chutzpah to vote on their conscience and beliefs rather than follow party orders.
Local government should be done by people whose first care is for their locality.
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The Independent
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- The Independent
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The Independent
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The National
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SNP campaign chief Jamie Hepburn reacts to Hamilton by-election loss
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