Gathering storm sparks war of words between leaders

Published on Wednesday 2 March 2011 18:21

PARTY leaders at the City Chambers were today locked in a bitter war of words as The Gathering storm deepened.

Liberal Democrat council leader Jenny Dawe and her SNP deputy Steve Cardownie are facing a motion of no-confidence at next week's full council meeting after Holyrood's audit committee branded their evidence on the loss-making two-day clan gathering in 2009 "not credible".

But now Cllr Dawe has told Tory group leader Jeremy Balfour she will not allow him to be "judge and jury".

And the Lib Dem-SNP administration has lodged its own motion for the meeting, insisting Cllrs Dawe and Cardownie stand by their account of events and voicing "extreme disquiet" at the committee's comments.

The criticism by the MSPs focused on a meeting to discuss a press release which wrongly announced the council-backed tourism body DEMA would cover debts of 344,000 owed by private company The Gathering 2009 Ltd to more than 100 private-sector suppliers.

The committee said Cllrs Dawe and Cardownie, the then chief executive Tom Aitchison and senior official Jim Inch could not recollect what was said at the meeting, although council media manager Stewart Argo had given a written account of how the release came to be issued and insisted he had received the necessary clearance from them.

The committee report said it did not consider the oral evidence from the council witnesses to be credible.

Cllr Balfour wrote to Cllrs Dawe and Cardownie, calling on them to answer key questions raised by the report.

Neither of them responded by the deadline he set.

But in an e-mail sent later to Cllr Balfour, Cllr Dawe said: "I totally refute the extremely distressing unsubstantiated allegations in the audit committee report and stand by my evidence; have taken what I consider to be appropriate action on this; and have no intention of acceding to your demands that you be judge and jury on the worth of any response that Steve and I might give you."

Labour has proposed an investigation by the council's own audit committee.

The administration's motion notes the councillors and senior officials who gave oral evidence stand by their account and express "extreme disquiet at how the committee has chosen to label their evidence to the detriment of both their own, and the council's, reputation".

It notes that those concerned have sought legal advice.

Council chief executive Sue Bruce has written to the Scottish Parliament, arguing the council is entitled to a right of reply.