‘It is time to bang heads together’

When we called on Jenny Dawe to consider her position as council leader yesterday, we did so more in hope than expectation.

But while we said the Lib Dem boss had to go after presiding over the latest tram shambles, we noted she is also a thoughtful politician who is committed to doing what she thinks is best for the Capital.

So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that even she thinks she may have to quit.

As we report today, the immediate reaction of many senior Lib Dems to Thursday’s vote to end the trams at Haymarket was to pull out of the administration.

Many have long been uncomfortable in a coalition with an SNP group which is implacably opposed to their pet project.

They would no doubt be relieved to turn the whole mess over to Labour and the Tories, after they banded together to block the council’s proposals to take the line to St Andrew Square.

Those hot heads soon cooled, but the Lib Dems remain locked in talks and Mrs Dawe herself says they could yet quit the administration on Monday.

Welcome though that prospect may be to many, the dilemma for the city is what would take their place.

The SNP’s minority would surely be too small to hold power, especially with the council committed to taking the toxic trams as far as Haymarket.

After Thursday’s fiasco, it is hard to imagine a rainbow coalition of Labour, Tories and the Greens agreeing on anything, never mind governing competently.

As well as calling time on Mrs Dawe, the News yesterday repeated our view that if we can’t take the tram to the city centre we should scrap the whole thing.

So it seems to us the best hope is that council chief executive Sue Bruce succeeds in her attempt to draw up a revised plan to get to St Andrew Square which is different enough for a new vote.

It will then be up to the pro-tram politicians to bang heads together and force an acceptable compromise.

Unfortunately, it is clear that, decent though she is, Mrs Dawe is not right for that particular job.