Gina Davidson: No need to fear dissenting views

Published on Thursday 9 April 2009 10:05

IT'S kind of hard to stir Edinburgh's Conservative councillors out of their apathy these days (when did they last come up with a policy worth debating? Answers on a postcard please), but it would appear that suggesting that the public have a right to feel angry about the current financial state of our country got Cameron Rose a bit hot under the collar.

In a response to my suggestion that it's understandable why people would want to smash a few windows, it would seem the Tory councillor for Southside and Newington doesn't like hearing the public voice of dissent.

So he is probably delighted at the revelation earlier this week that the body responsible for protecting and monitoring the city's historic heart has been well and truly gagged. Especially as it had the temerity to be publicly funded and then pronounce against the council's own planning decisions. The cheek.

Apparently the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, the "champion" of our Unesco-designation has been told by the council and Historic Scotland to stop doing what it does best – objecting to schemes which it believes are inappropriate for Edinburgh. Instead the council wants the Trust to sign up to a new arrangement which would "govern its contributions" to planning submissions; which would see it becoming just a promotional body for the World Heritage Site rather than being allowed to comment on controversial schemes such as Haymarket and Caltongate.

Given that the organisation is given 1 million annually by the two bodies just to exist, such pressure smacks a little of well . . . blackmail. Especially when a Trust source says that "we've been told to keep our heads down or face substantial funding cuts".

This has obviously been a long-running issue between the parties involved. Even back in July last year, when it was announced that Unesco would be making a visit to determine if the city's world heritage status was in jeopardy because of new developments, the Trust refused to comment on the issue, despite it being the obvious body to do so.

Of course, what is most ironic about the gagging of the Trust is that Historic Scotland itself is a body long-decried by Edinburgh's planners as being a constant voice of dissent, holding up the city's economic growth with its old-fashioned ideas of conservation.

But the whole issue shows just how scared our elected representatives appear to be of dissent – and not just the Tories. Liberal Democrats are obviously not big fans either. That was proven when this current administration closed down the publicly-funded local newspapers serving some of the more deprived areas of town, when they refused anti-school closure delegations to attend council meetings and when one parent was thrown off the consultation committee on school closures because she had the impudence to question decisions.

But dissent is part and parcel of local democracy. Our willingness to express a differing opinion is inextricably bound up with our most cherished values of freedom of speech and civil liberties. Politicians who fear voices of dissent and opposition are those who are holding on to the reins of power by their fingertips. Such ostrich-like behaviour can only result in one thing . . . being thrown out of office at the next election.

Dissenters need to know they can be heard rather than be gagged – otherwise the long-term outcome will be a lot worse than a few smashed windows.

A lesson in value

I do have some sympathy for Marc Cable, the 16-year-old Broughton High pupil who got his bike stolen from the school bike sheds. Being a victim of theft is never a pleasant experience. But it's his fault, not that of the teachers who wouldn't let him park it in the staff bike rack.

Why on earth would anyone take a bicycle, allegedly worth 1000, to school in the first place? If it's not blatant showing off, it's certainly asking for trouble. And surely if you have a bike that costs that much you would ensure it had a decent lock on it, if not some kind of alarm?

Model behaviour

Best of luck to Ashley Brown from Livingston who is attempting to become Britain's Next Top Model. You have to be made of pretty tough stuff to want to go into the modelling business in the first place, but to have to put up with the bitchy comments from the other competitors as well as the nonentities who sit as judges on this second-rate version of the American show must be "character building" in the extreme.

Mind you, given that she's got two children at the age of 20, she's perhaps perfectly cut out for dealing with the tears and tantrums of the Kate Moss wannabes.