Lib Dems decide against breaking up city coalition

Jenny Dawe has registered her displeasure with Steve Cardownie

But Councillor Dawe said despite some strong views, they wanted to carry on with the coalition which has been running the city for four years.

After the defection, revealed by the Evening News ten days ago, Cllr Dawe had said the Lib Dem group would consider "all options" and revealed one councillor had suggested they could go it alone or look for another coalition partner until the council elections next May.

But following a Lib Dem group meeting, Cllr Dawe has written to Cllr Cardownie, setting out her party's position.

In her letter she said: "We have no argument with you as a group or with the way you have handled Cllr Morris's defection to your party. As you point out, people always have, and always will, 'cross the floor'. And it would be a foolish party group that did not consider accepting a disillusioned member from another political party.

"Our argument is, of course, with Elaine and the way she went about her 'conversion'. Yes, it is never going to be a situation of amicable parting but to be involved as Elaine was, right up to the last minute, in Lib Dem activities such as candidate vetting, makes her scorn for her colleagues particularly hard to bear.

"Pretty well everybody at our meeting (a full meeting, with only one person away on holiday) expressed their feelings of betrayal, with some feeling that particularly sorely as they, in the words of one, 'had considered her a chum'."

Cllr Morris blamed the policies of the UK Conservative-Lib Dem coalition and the "lack of strong leadership" over the trams for her decision to switch parties.

Cllr Dawe said the group meeting had included "a robust discussion about the way forward over the next months". She continued: "This is probably something that we would have been tackling fairly soon anyway.

"A variety of views were expressed, some more extreme than others; but, in conclusion, we decided that, certainly as far as the Lib Dems are concerned, we feel that our coalition has delivered a great deal for Edinburgh and that it is still our desire to work together in coalition for the good of the city.

"I feel that in a strange way Elaine's defection has energised the Lib Dem group and focused our minds on continuing to do our best to give Edinburgh the bright new future our manifesto promised in 2007."

She said in the end the group had agreed that "at this time, this could best be accomplished by working with the SNP in coalition".