Have we been conned ‘first by the Tories and now on Labour’s altar of austerity’

By Bill Heaney

See that £20 million Boris Johnston promised West Dunbartonshire Council to regenerate Dumbarton Town Centre? Well, it’s no longer a certainty that the cheque will be dropping through their Church Street letterbox.

Our naive councillors who believed Boris, whose reputation for being economical with the truth goes before him, and the spin doctors who farmed out the story, have once again been caught with their pants round their ankles.

There was no surprise amongst MSPs when it became clear in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday that it was not just West Dunbartonshire who would have to hold their horses on this.

Every skint council in the country – they are all stony broke – will have to face up to the fact that the cash might not now be coming their way.

It was SNP man Bill Kidd, the Anniesland MSP, who set the ball rolling when he asked what recent discussions the Scottish government has had with the UK government regarding the provision of levelling up funding for areas of multiple deprivation such as Drumchapel in the Glasgow Anniesland constituency?

Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic, Kate Forbes, replied that she had raised that very issue with the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, during a meeting on a range of issues, including the future of levelling up and other funds.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.

She did not, however, tell him what had been revealed to her, but Bill Kidd knew bad news was coming down the line.

He said: “People in my constituency feel betrayed. Westminster promised funding for projects in communities across Scotland, only for people to see those promises abandoned, first by the Tories and now on Labour’s altar of austerity.

“I have today written to the Secretary of State for Scotland to urge him to deliver the funding that was promised to Scotland’s Parliament in order to properly fulfil the promises that were made to communities such as the one that I represent in Drumchapel.

[And West Dunbartonshire, of course, where £20 million was also ‘awarded’ to Clydebank from the same dodgy source]

“Does the minister agree that that funding cannot be a casualty of Labour austerity and that, rather than bypassing Scotland’s Parliament and undermining devolution, any funding should be for this Parliament to deliver for the people of Scotland and their priorities?”

Kate Forbes told him: “The member makes a compelling case for decisions being made as close to those who benefit as possible—namely, being made here in the Scottish Government. As I mentioned, I raised the matter with the Deputy Prime Minister last week. I reiterated our concerns about the levelling up fund and how it has been overly politicised under previous regimes.

“As I understand it, the big risk is what will happen on 30 October, when the UK Government makes its budget statement. We sincerely hope that decisions will not be made in that budget that impact Scotland, negatively.”

Despite the blowing of Labour trumpets across Scotland, including West Dunbartonshire, about the promise of Conservative cash coming our way, it might no longer happen.

Which once again leaves West Dunbartonshire Council looking extremely stupid, especially since they have already started spending the money on a new library and museum in Glencairn House on the High Street.

Paul Sweeney MSP, their Labour colleague at Holyrood, told the chamber what his feelings were on the matter — “The manner in which projects were put forward by Glasgow City Council for levelling up funding was extremely opaque and involved gate keeping.

“Notwithstanding that, will the Deputy First Minister [Katie Forbes] confirm when the Scottish Government’s regeneration funds, such as the vacant and derelict land investment programme and the regeneration capital grant fund, will be reopened, given that other projects are critically dependent on that funding?”

Kate Forbes told him: “The member understands how essential the Scottish Government’s regeneration funding has been. He will also understand that, if I cannot get any clarity from the UK Government on its schemes, it stands to reason that it will be very difficult to give him any commitments in advance of the UK Government’s budget or our Scottish Government budget.

“Our sincere hope—I hope that he will use his offices to put pressure on his colleagues—is that there will be a fair settlement to allow us to continue to support communities and that, when it comes to levelling up funding, it will be less opaque, less politicised and more impactful.”

And so say all of us. Ed.