Comment: Time for Labour and SNP to strike an Edinburgh deal

IF there is one thing that we should be able to expect of our city councillors it is that they will do what is best for Edinburgh.

Councillor Cammy Day is leading Labour in coalition talks with the SNP in Edinburgh

There will often be great differences of opinion on what is the best thing to do for the city - and that is only right. But right now the way forward should be clear to everyone.

A deal between the SNP and Labour to run the city together is the best thing for Edinburgh.

Attempting to run the city as a minority administration would be a disaster. With around a third of the seats even the SNP as the biggest party would run into a quagmire, important decisions would not be made and Edinburgh would stagnate. The city would suffer and jobs would be lost as a result.

The SNP-Labour partnership is the obvious one. You would struggle to get a cigarette paper between the policies of the two parties on many of the important issues, while there are wide ideological differences between the two and the Conservatives.

The suggestion is that with the General Election looming, party political interests are being put before those of the city. That would be wrong. It is time for the parties power brokers in the Capital to put any other interests aside and strike a deal for Edinburgh.