‘Not the normal people’: Is this Cammy Day’s Gerald Ratner moment? – John McLellan

IN what could yet be Councillor Cammy Day’s Gerald Ratner moment, he told the Evening News that the plan to make Edinburgh carbon neutral by 2030 “needs to be about people who live in Wester Hailes, Craigmillar and Pilton and what they can contribute”.

Warming to his theme, as it were, he added: “I think that will be really difficult but we need to be seen to engage with people who are not the normal people who care about green climate issues.”

So the city’s Labour leader thinks that people in areas which would previously be considered his party’s backyard don’t care about climate change? What about other environmental issues? Which people? Why will it be more difficult for them than other people?

As if Labour hasn’t got enough problems...

McVey confirms his Trump-ish tendancies

Unusually, I am grateful to council leader Adam McVey for confirming in yesterday’s Evening News that the Conservative position on the blanket 20mph limit was based on analysis of information which reflected residents’ entirely reasonable concerns.

Sure, we came to different conclusions and argued our case, but Cllr McVey still insists it’s acceptable to describe this as “lies”. But by characterising different views as wilful deception he has unwittingly confirmed my colleague Cllr Nick Cook’s view that his tactics are worthy of Donald Trump.

Mystery over ‘Lesley who is in charge of the roads’?

A city centre shopkeeper was in touch this week to report how a member of staff who had parked on George Street was photographed by an un-uniformed woman and told to move on.

Was this a new undercover police operation, or one of a secret team of stealth traffic wardens we didn’t know about? Or a prankster? No, she identified herself as “Lesley who is in charge of the roads”.

Was it ex-city transport chief Lesley Hinds trying to relive the glory days after standing down from the Council, or was it current transport convener Lesley Macinnes going above and beyond? If the latter such selfless devotion to duty deserves recognition.

And small business representatives who have been seeking a meeting about the impact of the council’s policies without success would be glad to know she’s on patrol.

Tram construction to damage homes?

And so it begins… the drills aren’t even in the tarmac and the first concerns about the Newhaven tram completion have been raised by Constitution Street residents who received letters requesting access to their homes for structural surveys.

Presumably this is so that pre-existing issues are identified, so they can’t go after the tram contractors. It’s in their interests to have the surveys done because if construction does cause damage, it might be more difficult to prove the work was to blame. But if it was me, and a problem was identified, I’d make sure I got a professional second opinion.