An Edinburgh councillor has been chastised for swearing during a debate after accusing his opponent of talking “utter p*sh”.
The SNP’s Neil Gardiner was reminded by the Lord Provost to “watch what language we use” during heated exchanges about the omission of Edinburgh from the UK Government’s new ‘Council of the Nations and Regions’.
At the committee’s first meeting, held in Edinburgh last month, the Prime Minister and the leaders of the devolved administrations joined 11 English metro mayors and London’s mayor to discuss “shared challenges” and “opportunities”.
Cllr Gardiner argued the Scottish capital “needs to be at that table” and called on Labour council leader Cammy Day to ask Keir Starmer for an invitation to future meetings.
“We have a council leader whose job is to stand up for Edinburgh,” he said as the issue was raised at a full council meeting on Thursday 7 November “and I would have faith in him to stand up for Edinburgh, to talk to his colleagues from the UK Government and make that case.”
Councillor Day said: “We did of course have the First Minister there. The SNP First Minister of Scotland, who I would have thought would be standing up for the capital city here in Edinburgh as well as every city and town across Scotland.”
Lib Dem group leader Kevin Lang said: “It seems that the Scottish Government simply cannot be relied upon to stand up for Edinburgh as a capital city, so much so that we need Councillor Day at the table front and centre, who knows, maybe with the leaders of Scotland’s 31 other local authorities, thus diminishing the number of venues that would be able to host a council of that size.”
He added: “We’d all accept the SNP have had a tough year. But the Scottish Government need to know they’re in real trouble if they’re losing Councillor Gardiner.
“I mean, it’s the political equivalent of the ravens leaving the Tower of London. And I think it’s important that the Scottish Government are told about this.
“I think in reality, this is a committee of nations and regions. This council is neither of those. If there’s an argument to be made for creating an elected mayor for an Edinburgh region, Councillor Gardiner can make that argument, I will oppose him vociferously because I am not convinced that is the right model to go for.”
Councillor Gardiner hit back at Councillor Lang, who recently returned from Michigan where he campaigned for Kamala Harris. “I have absolute faith in the First Minister,” he said.
“I think maybe you’ve been over in America too long with your Trumpian take on things. Utter p*sh!”
The expletive prompted an interjection from Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, who said: “Excuse me, we do need to watch what language we use in this chamber.”
Cllr Gardiner continued: “I think I’ve dealt with the Liberal [amendment] and I have nothing more to say on that.”
He added: “We want Scottish independence but the settlement we’ve got is this one where there’s this nations and regions thing. We need to be at that table to make sure we get properly funded.”
Councillor Day said: “Maybe more importantly rather than having a seat around the table is having the powers we should be asking for from both the Scottish Government and the UK Government in terms of regional governance, elected mayors or a different arrangement that allows the many powers that the Scottish Government have taken from local government and the many powers that lay at Westminster and devolving them to a regional approach.
“Whether that’s a regional approach to transport, planning, housing, economic development – that’s something we should be pushing in this city. It’s not about a seat around the table.”
By Donald Turvill Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
