Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has been accused of trying to “sabotage” his party’s only council pact with the SNP. Labour and the Nationalists agreed in May to run Dumfries and Galloway together, but Sarwar has downplayed the agreement as “interim”.
This is in spite of Labour ’s co-leader on the local authority saying there is no time limit for the deal.
SNP MSP Emma Harper said: “It’s hardly surprising that Anas Sarwar is more intent on wrecking any working relationship with the SNP than protecting his grubby deals with the Tories in local authorities across Scotland. Anas Sarwar’s Labour has followed the Tories’ lead to block Scotland’s return to the EU, to deny Scotland’s democratic choice of an independent future and to escape toxic Westminster cuts.”
Sarwar insisted during the council election campaign that there would be no town hall coalitions with the SNP.
Party insiders believed this hardline stance was an attempt to blunt Tory claims that Labour could team up with the SNP after the next general election. In Dumfries and Galloway, Labour, the SNP and Independents shut out the Tories by forming an administration, with the two parties bagging a co-leader each.
The Record has been told questions have been raised within Scottish Labour over the D&G deal. Sarwar said last week that it was temporary and “not for the entire duration of the council term”.
He told journalists: “The one arrangement that you’re referring to, in Dumfries and Galloway, is an interim arrangement to allow council services to continue because that council could not form an administration.”
He used the word “interim” on multiple occasions. However, the council press release hailing the deal made no mention of the new administration being “interim”, instead claiming it would provide “strong and stable leadership”.
Labour councillor Linda Dorward, who is one of the council co-leaders, said: “The administration is an informal agreement between three groups.”
Asked if “interim” is accurate, she said: “I can’t speak for the leader of the Labour party in Scotland. I can only speak for myself as co-leader of the council. And at the moment we are working together to make a difference for Dumfries and Galloway.”
On whether there is a time limit on the agreement, she said: “No.”
Gail Macgregor, a Tory councillor on the local authority, said: “It definitely wasn’t an interim deal, it was a murky deal. There was never any indication it was a temporary agreement.”
Harper said: “SNP and Labour councillors in Dumfries and Galloway are doing the right thing: providing stability and certainty for local citizens and communities during these challenging times, yet Anas Sarwar appears to want to sabotage that.”
A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: “The temporary arrangement in Dumfries and Galloway has been essential in providing stability locally, but our position on no coalition arrangements with the SNP and the Tories remains unchanged. The timescale and format of what replaces it is a matter for D&G Labour, but is subject to approval by the SEC.”
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