Edinburgh city council budget plans are not music to SNP ears - Steve Cardownie

Councillor Simita Kumar is leader of the SNP group on Edinburgh City Council

With nine, yes nine, councillors out of a total of 63 it is a modern political feat that they are in a position to propose a budget at all.

I have written before that, although Labour’s position may look precarious. it is actually quite secure as long as they can rely on support from the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives.

This situation is, as you would expect, getting right up the nose of Simita Kumar, SNP’s group leader up in the High Street. She vented her spleen (again) in the pages of this paper on Monday when she wrote “Instead of engaging in a democratic process, Labour is simply rubber-stamping officers’ proposals, avoiding the responsibility of crafting a vision for our city.”

She muses “Why cling to power if you’re unwilling to do the work? Is it laziness or incompetence?” Answers on a postcard (remember them?) please.

Given that she leads a group of 17 SNP councillors, the largest political group on the council, she can be forgiven for demonstrating her frustration at the current situation she finds herself in.

However, unfortunately for her, she would appear to be wasting her vitriol as long as the other parties maintain their disdain for her group.

They attempt to justify this by pointing the finger at the previous administration, led by the SNP, accusing it of being arrogant and dismissive of the views of councillors who were not part of the administration, and that they do not fancy more of the same.

Although Cllr Kumar was not around at the time, that is not cutting any ice with the current crop of councillors, who seem hellbent on isolating her group.

She might well be right when she says that “ Labour will rely on Tory and Lib Dem support to push through a hollow budget” but, unfortunately for her, “that is just the way it is” (apologies to Bruce Hornsby!)