Moray row over Question Time
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MORAY Conservatives have condemned Deputy First Minister John Swinney’s "attack" on the local council during BBC political show Question Time, which was broadcast from Elgin last night.
Show host Fiona Bruce was in Elgin with a panel including Conservative MP Bim Afolami, leader of the Scottish Labour Party Richard Leonard MSP, deputy first minister and Scottish education secretary John Swinney MSP, Edinburgh Liberal Democrat and work and pensions spokesperson Christine Jardine MP and vice-chair of Amnesty International and Scottish Brexiteer Eilidh Douglas.
And social media was abuzz afterwards with comments after former Tory MSP Mary Scanlon appeared in the panel show's audience.
Councillor Marc Macrae (Fochabers-Lhanbryde), who was also a member of the audience, said: "There was an audible collective intake of breath when John Swinney blamed the financial problems afflicting Moray Council as the fault of previous administrations which, incidentally, were mainly made up of Independent councillors – not Conservatives as he claimed.
"People in the audience were genuinely angry at his attempt to hoodwink the audience watching the programme at home.
"Frankly, his comments were a disgrace and a fellow member of the audience put him right a few minutes later when he pointed out that the Scottish Government has slashed the council’s budget, in contrast to the funding the Scottish Government has received from Westminster."
Jamie Halcro Johnston, Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said: "It is incredible that a minister like John Swinney should come up from Holyrood and slag off a local council whose budgets, as a former finance secretary, he squeezed while in office.
"We’re now at the point in Moray where the council can’t even afford to cut the grass in some places – a cut implemented by SNP councillors.
"It is telling that the biggest cheer of the night came when an audience member needed to tell John Swinney that the SNP should concentrate on the day job of running the Scottish Government.
"Even Fiona Bruce commented on the lack of support in the audience in Elgin for John Swinney, and it was definitely an uncomfortable night for Nicola Sturgeon’s right-hand man.
"The audience’s strongly negative reaction to John Swinney was far from surprising given his complete lack of awareness that many of the problems Moray faces are the result of decisions made by him and his SNP colleagues."
Mrs Scanlon's appearance in the audience sparked a flurry of comments on social media over the vetting and application process for the show.
Moray's MSP Rochard Lochhead said: “This latest attack on the SNP is nothing more than shameless hypocrisy and opportunism from Moray’s Conservatives.
"Our Conservative MP voted for a 28% reduction in local government funding at Westminster, and hopes no one has noticed. And of course the Conservative MSPs at Holyrood voted against the additional £3.2m for Moray at the final stage of the budget because they wanted tax cuts and less public spending.
“And locally, the Tories were part of the Moray administration for 10 years and walked away after they fell out with everyone and failed to take the big decisions that have led us to where we are today as was highlighted by Audit Scotland.
“Some honesty and responsibility from Moray Tories would go a long way as would some genuine concern for the families and communities affected by Moray Council’s predicament rather than just point scoring against the SNP.
“In terms of the audience on the night, it seemed that almost everyone in the local Moray Conservative Party had turned out – including a former Tory MSP and her Tory councillor colleagues – so it is no surprise that it was unrepresentative.”
