Michael Kelly: Political intrigue dreamt up by opposition spin

It's a tempting menu of delicious titbits of scandal and gossip following the resignation of Steven Purcell that I could well take home and enjoy in front of the telly.

It's an intriguing horror film of Labour, inside the council, dictatorially controlling all the reins of power while externally its insidious influence extends into all areas of Glasgow society.

Sadly, like most conspiracy theories, it's bunkum. And it's old hat. Some of the opinions offered read like cut-and-paste jobs from the cuttings of the 1970s and 80s.

Where is the evidence of the over-arching power of the council? Where are the facts to back up claims that Labour's tentacles extend menacingly from George Square into the businesses and homes of petrified Glaswegians like some monster out of Dr Who?

There aren't any. It's all innuendo, speculation and smears.

Historically, there was some justification for such a portrayal. Forty years ago Glasgow Corporation did wield enormous powers of patronage. Councillors controlled the allocation of the vast number of houses the city owned and councillors interviewed teachers for promoted posts.

There was plenty of room for corrupt practices in those systems. At the same time, the Direct Works department represented everything that was bad about the relationship between trade unions and elected members, leading to feather-bedding for workers and appalling service for tenants.

But all that was swept away years ago. Two reorganisations of local government and the establishment of the Scottish Parliament have severely curtailed the powers of councils.

Proportional representation means that instead of Labour winning 90 per cent of the seats, as it did regularly under the first-past-the-post system, opposition parties currently have 32 seats against Labour's 46.

Even more significantly in demonstrating the attitude of the Labour group to openness and accountability is the fact that it has handed the chairing of two powerful committees, the finance and audit scrutiny committee and the external governance committee to opposition councillors.

This is not the action of people wanting to cover their tracks.

Then there is the reform agenda that the council has pursued since 1996, moving itself from service provider to a strategic role.

To improve services and in response to pressure on local government finance the council has steadily been divesting itself of powers and placing the delivery of services from culture and leisure to car parking markets and IT with arms-length companies. Hardly the actions of power-crazy councillors.

This council is driven pragmatically, not by dogma. What better illustration than the setting of City Property as a limited liability partnership to sell off unwanted council building and land?

Contrast that to my days as a councillor when the city lost Radio Clyde to Clydebank because a doctrinaire group refused to sell the site the station had identified in Maryhill.

Only this week it has been revealed that informal talks may have been started with private firms interested in supplying services traditionally run by the council.

While this is almost certainly a step too far it indicates the willingness to examine every option in a bid to counteract the cuts in front-line services threatened by Scottish Government policy.

As for bloody in-fighting, there's hasn't been any. That's the fact. Of course, the Labour group must use its May AGM to choose a new leader. It is recognised that the stand-in, Jim Coleman has neither the ability nor the media appeal to hold on to the job.

So quite naturally, supporters of different individuals are dividing into camps. But the lessons of 20 and 30 years ago, when the Lally-Dynes and Lally- McFadden battles attracted great criticism to the party, have been learned.

This will be a dignified fight. That's partly because there are no great ideological differences between the three serious candidates that have thus far emerged – Archie Graham, Paul Rooney and Gordon Matheson. All are committed to the reform agenda. There will be no lurch to the Left, no capitulation to special interests.

And the choice available shows that Purcell will be effectively replaced.

Archie Graham, very experienced, is currently steering the Commonwealth Games.

Paul Rooney comes from a background of commercial law and the procurator-fiscal's office.

Gordon Matheson has an MA from Glasgow University, a post-graduate diploma from Strathclyde and is currently studying for a diploma in financial management.

Not the stuttering, stumbling fag-puffing, shop steward stereotype of the Glasgow councillor that publicity is trying, wrongly, to revive. It's a quality list.

As for the complaint that Labour's influence pervades the whole of Glasgow society: well, Glasgow isn't some balanced political microcosm where all parties enjoy equal support and the floating voter calls the shots. Its people vote Labour.

No-one herds them into polling booths and checks their ballot papers. They vote Labour because that party's values coincide most closely with their own views of how society should be run. What an insult to condemn homogeneity of political mood as a fault!

Of course, individuals can always misuse power. If there are any substantive allegations to emerge from the smears currently swirling around then it is the job of the police to investigate them. But there is no systemic corruption and no bogeyman under the bed secretly manipulating gullible Glaswegians.

To the loud-mouthed critics bawling from the sidelines I would put the killer question that has silenced many a phone-in football fan with an ill- informed opinion. "Were you at the game, caller?" Examination of the facts dismisses the case being made against the council, its members and officials.

This is a storm whipped up by Labour opponents. Don't believe them. They're just trying to sell you a bill of goods.