‘Jobs for the boys’ row after Labour stalwart Tom McCabe gets £50,000 job

By SCOTT MACNAB
Published on 21/07/2012 02:23

A FORMER Labour government minister is at the centre of a cronyism row after landing a lucrative policy role with Glasgow City Council.

Opposition parties have complained to the Labour-run council’s legal officials after Tom McCabe, a finance minister in the last Labour/Liberal Democrat administration at Holyrood, landed a role as a policy manager with a salary of almost £50,000.

Council leaders insist he was appointed after an open and transparent process and there was no input from any Labour councillors.

Mr McCabe lost his Holyrood seat in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse last year when the SNP swept to its landslide election victory.

But he played a key role in Labour’s successful local election campaign in Glasgow earlier this year, which saw the party return to power, despite years of internal turmoil.

The opposition SNP group on the council have condemned the appointment in the authority’s land and services department and have asked the council’s chief solicitor if there is any way to challenge it.

Graeme Hendry, leader of the Glasgow SNP Group, said: “Glasgow Labour’s murky history is clearly not in the past after appointing a failed Labour politician to a post that is supposed to be politically neutral.

“Not only is he a former Labour minister, he also ran the council campaign in Glasgow and has aligned himself to ensure he gets a top spot.

“Earning a reported salary of just under £50,000 a year is yet another slap in the face to the people of Glasgow. The list of incompetence and jobs for the boys goes on. I’ve raised my concerns with the chief solicitor at the council.

“This post is supposed to be non-political – what assurances can he make to the people of Glasgow that he will not be putting his allegiances to Labour first?”