'Keep stum'
Pat Watters CBE has been a Labour councillor since 1982.
He has a quarter century of service behind him, first with Strathclyde Region and latterly with South Lanarkshire.
He is now serving an unprecedented third term as President of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. Diligent and dedicated, he knows his stuff.
So when he issues a rebuke to his own party, it鈥檚 wise to pay heed. And a particularly stern rebuke it was too.
Labour had leaked figures which, they said, indicated that the deal on offer to Cosla from the Scottish Government was a poor one.
Almost all the extra money, said Labour, would be swallowed up in funding a council tax freeze.
In response, Cllr Watters described the leaked documents as an early 鈥 and partial 鈥 working draft. Labour, he said, was 鈥渜uite mistaken鈥.
He had been having 鈥渕ature and sensible discussions鈥 with Scottish Ministers and wouldn鈥檛 be 鈥渂ounced鈥 into altering that approach.
Just ponder that for a second. Pat Watters is chiding his own party, the party he has represented for 25 years. He is praising the approach adopted by SNP Ministers.
Why, exactly? For one thing, arithmetic. As well as an SNP government at Holyrood, Scotland now has more SNP councillors than Labour ones. Cosla is the umbrella organisation for local government 鈥 and its President must offer shelter to all its elected members.
Secondly, Cllr Watters plainly suspects that he is coming under political pressure from his own party to resist an accommodation with the Scottish Government on partisan grounds. Equally plainly, he doesn鈥檛 like it.
Thirdly, he detects an opportunity to restore the status of local government. More money, more flexibility over how to spend it.
Of course, John Swinney, the Finance Secretary, is asking for a lot in return.
He is asking for a freeze on council taxation. A popular, 鈥渇orget about police and class sizes鈥 freeze.
A vote-winning freeze. Winning votes for the SNP, that is. Not necessarily for Cllrs Watters鈥 party unless they get credit locally in areas where they retain control.
It鈥檚 a big ask, a tough call. Which is why Pat Watters CBE, a customarily cautious individual, is treading particularly carefully.
Which is also why he resents noises off, even from his own party. Perhaps especially from his own party.
I'm 
Comments
Interesting stuff! But Labour are putting themselves in a corner generally with their approach at Holyrood ... at the minute they are opposing almost every measure merely because it is being put forward by the SNP. This could lead to them not being believed/being completely ignored by the public - they are simply crying wolf too often!
While many thought the SNP would be unprepared for government - after all they have not held power beyond council level before - it was in fact Labour who were most unprepared: for opposition. They have shown huge tactical naivety, and their complaints about funding came across very badly.
The London Labour party are a disgraceful opposition. I have voted Labour all of my life. But after the negative election campaign in May and their bitterness in opposition since, I will be voting for the SNP in the next election.
Tony Blair, Gordon Brown I pity you.
Hi there, interesting blog - I appreciate the opportunity to get a clear point of view once again, thanks for that.
The council tax freeze is certainly a statement of intent, and as with the rise in police numbers, I don't mind that the tax isn't being abolished altogether, or that it's only 500 officers. These and education funding were three major pledges, and to my knowledge, they have wasted no time in tackling these issues. There will have to be compromises, but they are up-front, rather than being appended quietly once memory for detail (or enthusiasm for another new policy story) has dimmed satisfactorily, a la Labour. The opp. cabal's alarmist shrieking is at worst unproductive within the debate chamber, where hyperbolic criticism leaves no time for thrashing out solutions, but when they begin lashing out just for working with the SNP (ie Elvidge, Watters), they are obstructing the real work getting done. Real professionals like Elvidge and Watters rightfully recognise such comments belong only in the debate chamber - outside, some have more important jobs to do.
In Glasgow Tax levels have been frozen for Council Tax during some costly pay review processes and they seem to have managed OK.
Perhaps this isn't as big an ask as it may seem, Labour are in serious danger of prolonging their failed negative campaigning tactics.
The "We told you they couldn't do it" argument doesn't stack up against the perception that SNP may have been canny with their campaign promises but they're trying their best. They have the appearance of consensus politicians trying to make it work under a "difficult" settlement.
Time for everyone to grow up, forget about being sore losers and build on the positivity coming from Mr Salmond. Win the arguments on the merits of your position, if you can't maybe you're wrong or you shouldn't be in politics.
quote: "Labour had leaked figures"
More evidence that shows that the Labour party has failed miserably to come to terms with it's defeat in Scotland and that Scots are more than comfortable with a SNP Government.
It would seem that the current Labour leadership is quite prepared to undermine COSLA, a body it considers it's own, in order to deny the SNP government.
Perhaps it's part of Labour's master plan to recover it's position in Scotland by throwing a big spanner in the way civic life is conducted, but it's flawed plan.
Labour will not regain the trust of the Scottish electorate if it is seen to be destroying the key bodies and the key relationships that keeps Scotland functioning.
At the moment Labour is behaving as the nasty party (another stolen Tory concept).
Brian
A vote winning freeze. This is more a policy for Scotland, but of course it will win votes.
My rates went up 60% over the last eight years of North British branch of Labour control. My pay and now pension did not go up by anything like that.
Any party that tries to fix the very unfair council tax will win votes, including councils that implement it.
Interesting to watch the party political broadcast by the Lib Dems head office. They said they wanted smaller class sizes and the council tax changed to an income based policy, how strange. What will their North British branch do at the budget on Wednesday? It will really impress everyone if they go to fight the next election under the headings, we voted for a rise in council tax, we opposed free prescription, and we opposed smaller class sizes.
That will be a vote winner.
Well done Pat Watters. He may be the first of many who will support good policies over party interest and for that he has to be applauded.
As has Steven Purcell, Labour Leader of Glasgow City Council who is happy to work with the SNP Government for the greater good of Glasgow, especially the East end.
This is what the SNP are relying on. Enough good men and women throughout Scotland and indeed in Holyrood who will support good policies over party interests.
Maybe the penny has finally dropped in indivdual intelligent members of the Scottish Labour Party, that they have put up with this tripe for decades from thier own Party and it has taken an SNP Government to see the errors of the last 30 years. Although I have no doubt that most old Labour dinosaurs will never accept that they were wrong and will continue to talk thier own country down for the rest of thier days.
The Labour Party is in for a long period of Opposition,something in Scotland,that it is not used to.
Divisions on this and other issues,not least the approach The Party should take to an Independence Referendum,would suggest that Labour will be reacting in the way it has traditionaly done to periods of Opposition at Westminster-engaging in protracted internal blood-letting.
Interesting that a labour councillor of such long standing should, in effect, call down his own party and therefore that parties new leadership.
For my part it just goes to confirm what I consider to be the perpetual negative spin being woven ad infinitum by a party suffering from severe oral haemorraging of the worst kind ...
Pat Watters is a life-long Labour Party man and is no friend of the SNP. So John Swinney must have brokered quite a deal to have kept Pat on board. Well done both Swinney and Watters, just the type of co-operation that is essential for the good of Scotland at a time of minority government.
You can't blame some elements of Labour for wanting to rain on the SNP parade. Just a pity for them that everyone else can see just how ineffectual and petty they're being.
Pat Waters is right to play this issue with a straight bat - a freeze on council tax will be welcomed by many in the short term. The real issue is the medium/ long term pain that will need to be applied if not to Scotland's councils, then other areas of public service.
There is a real need to look at the small print - a zero percent increase in council tax will leave a funding gap for councils - even if, as seems likley that the Scottish G'vt fills that gap, they will need to find the money from somewhere - other public services better be on the look out.
Hi Brian
The Blog is balanced and perceptive. Which is more than I can say about the coverage of the Justice Minister's announcement about police numbers - on Reporting Scotland tonight, Monday. I have to say that it was quite breathtakingly biased against the government. Who are they that they think themselves able to tell us all that the 'honeymoon is now over'. Are they to be permitted to arrogate to themselves as a (previously even-handed) public service broadcasting agency the power to tell us, without challenge, that 'its a fair cop' or that the government have been got'bang to rights'? On whose authority are they able to state that that the manifesto undertaking on this has been broken - when it did not say that 1000 new officers would be recruited? Now I am not particularly partisan about police recruitment, but I most certainly am partisan about the cause of truth and balance on the 主播大秀. There have been some pretty serious breaches of the rules of balance, truth and fairness by the 主播大秀 Scotland news team of late in their reporting of the doings of our new government but tonight's offering took their standards to a new low. I just cannot understand how they can be allowed to get away with it. Does the attitude come from within - or is someone somewhere else pulling the strings? For goodness sake tell them to get their act back together. They are doing themselves, the 主播大秀 and the country a disfavour.
Not a surprising story. When the Scottish Government announced the proposed freeze on council tax, South Lanarkshire Council (Labour controlled thanks to a Conservative bosom buddy) went straight to the local papers and warned that all the school building programmes were immediately in trouble. This from a council that every year increases council tax by "inflation plus one percent". Won wonders would they have done if inflation was -1.
The main problem for Labour is that they have lost control of Scotland after many years, and haven't recovered from the shock. Pat Watters is experienced enough to remember that a councillor's first duty is to his or her constituents - not the party.
Few people want true independance up here in Scotland. But if the SNP keep going they way they are going they will at least keep control of Scotland, which will crucify Labour in the UK. And Pat Watters knows it.
Ach now, Brian, you're being a wee bit naughty there - you know fine well that John Swinney would never be underhand like that. The freeze on the council tax was in the manifesto.
While I'm on for a whinge, the commitment in the SNP manifesto was "we will set out plans in our first Budget for Scotland for 1000 more police and will encourage Chief Constables to focus these new resources on community policing". Exactly what Kenny MacAskill laid out plans for doing today (or yesterday by the time I'm typing this).
Pat Watters might be doing something similar to the SNP politicians as well - doing the job he was elected to do instead of flinging pointless insults. COSLA is having a constructive engagement with a Scottish Government for the first time under devolution - perhaps Councillor Watters thinks that this is a good thing in itself rather than seeking narrow party political advantage?
Never been a great fan of Pat Watters but perhaps it also indicates that those elected on a labour ticket are getting nervous about serving two masters. We can only hope they choose their constituents well-being over labour party decree. Do the right thing Pat.
The true test of competent government comes when they have to make the difficult, UNPOPULAR decisions - and they WILL come during this term, there is nothing surer.
With a fixed pot of money available, every deal made will have winners and losers. Council Tax freeze: OK. But how is it paid for? Job losses? Service cuts? Who knows. The opposition have the right to ask these questions without being labelled as negative/ineffectual/petty/dinosaurs. Without this information, the public at large have no idea whether this is actually a good policy or not.
#13, I completely agree on all counts. 主播大秀 television coverage of political events is unacceptably biased, so much so that I have been moved to lodge a complaint (not something I do lightly).
More on topic, politicians of all persuasions would do well to remember that they are paid to represent us and do the best they can to make this country work. Doing one's best to hinder the government just because they are of a different political colour does neither, and the electorate are smart enough to see that.
Maybe the problem lies in the mere existence of the terms 'government' and 'opposition'. If the opposition parties did a bit less opposing for opposing's sake, I might have a little more respect for them.
I'm really glad other people mentioned the 主播大秀s coverage of the police numbers issue. It was entirely biased and hooded in the extreme hyperbole of the opposition's press releases.
I agree that so far the 主播大秀's treatment of the SNP government has been shameful. Of course they have the right to scrutinise and pass comment, but it ought to be balanced and fair.
Thankfully the 主播大秀 does have a very clear complaints procedure. My advice would be to keep raising the complaint to the next level until you get a satisfactory answer.
Earlier this year I complained about a Newsnight 'poll' of business views of independence. I knew from personal experience that it was simply wrong. The first person to reply from the 主播大秀 clearly hadn't even read my complaint. So I kept raising it to the next level. Eventually someone tool it seriously, I got an admission that they'd misled viewers, an apology, and it made the front pages. To me the only way to keep them on track is to keep complaining about 主播大秀 bias..!
18 where did you lodge your complaint I would like to do so also
主播大秀 bias so what's new???
I understand perfectly well the SNP manifesto pledge on policing.Its a pity Wendy didnt read it properly perhaps her husband could put her in the picture he seems quite bright.
I for one would gladly scrap the 主播大秀 and the licence fee 'could be a vote winner!!!!' The only good thing worth looking at on the Beeb site is Brians blog so there ya go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!