Edinburgh Council motion to declare Duke of Edinburgh title awarded to Prince Edward is 'illegitimate' looks set to fail – Steve Cardownie

Edinburgh councillors face sitting through a heavy agenda at tomorrow’s full council meeting. There are 22 motions up for discussion along with 28 questions. In a mixed bag of subjects, the “Leader’s Report” will set the tone as one of the first items to be dealt with.

Council leader Cammy Day opens his report by referring to the latest “Edinburgh by Numbers” document, which was published a few days ago. Councillor Day highlights that it confirms “Edinburgh’s position as the most economically productive city outside of London, with the strongest local business survival rates of any comparable city, and above average wages for our workers”.

He also refers to the city’s “cleansing action plan” and the new measures that are being introduced, including a free uplift service for residents on lower incomes, additional litter picking, mechanical sweeping, gully emptying, and verge and hedge maintenance on approach and rural roads as well as putting extra resources into overnight cleansing services “to make sure we all wake up to a clean and tidy city each morning”.

When it comes to the motions up for discussion, I was amused to see that Councillor Day has submitted one of his own on the “tourism tax” in which he notes that Manchester has now introduced its own version and strangely puts that the council “agrees that the council leader engage with tourism groups in the city to put pressure on the Scottish Government to devolve the tourism tax power and to write to the relevant minister in the Scottish Government”. In other words, he is asking the full council meeting to give him instructions before he pursues council policy on the tourist tax. Surely the council leader could have pursued these matters without asking for instructions? Is that not what leadership is supposed to be about?

Nestling among the many sensible motions that directly affect the lives of city residents is one which should cause the Lord Provost to choke on his green tea. Headed, Edward Windsor, it declares that the “title of Duke of Edinburgh should hold no official status in the city and therefore this council also believes it should be considered an illegitimate title”. When referring to the bestowing of the title on Prince Edward, it states that it was done in the “absence of any kind of consultation with the people of Edinburgh over who should be given the title bearing the name of their home...”

I am no monarchist, but I would suggest that the mover of this motion had about as much consultation with the people of Edinburgh as King Charles did. I can just imagine the Lord Provost having a conversation at the coronation later this week along the lines of “How are you dae’in, Eddie? Your big bro cannae half put on a bit o’ a show, eh?”

Finishing as I started, with the council leader’s report, Councillor Day says of the coronation: “Here in Edinburgh we’re encouraging residents and visitors to dust off their picnic blankets and come together in West Princes Street Gardens to watch proceedings live on the big screen.” No prizes for guessing which way the motion will go.