Tram spin doctors paid £1 million

SPIN doctors hired for the Edinburgh tram project have been paid more than £1 million in public cash.

Four PR firms have been paid £1.1m since 2006 despite the council having its own in-house communication team and trams PR department.

Much of the cash was paid to PR firms specialising in “crisis management” as the controversial project was hit with a series of blunders and soaring costs. The biggest recipients were Media House who received £588,000.

Labour Lothians MSP Kezia Dugdale said: “With the terrible publicity for the trams, I think a refund is in order. This adds to the case for a public inquiry to get to the bottom of what went so badly wrong.”