No confidence in Labour, but SNP won't push for no confidence vote

Scottish Nationalists have ruled out a bid to take over control of North Lanarkshire Council from the 'ramshackle' Labour administration.
Council leader Jim Logue, right, with depute Paul Kelly.Council leader Jim Logue, right, with depute Paul Kelly.
Council leader Jim Logue, right, with depute Paul Kelly.

Labour’s majority on the 70-member authority is now down to just two after the resignation last week of Councillors Gary O’Rorke and Frank McKay.

That brings to six the number of Labour councillors who have quit since Jim Logue took over as council leader in March and sacked a number of long-serving conveners.

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Labour have 36 councillors and the SNP have 22 with the number of independents now up to 12. There has been talk that some unhappy Labour councillors could

back an SNP no-confidence motion in Councillor Logue, but the Nationalists are not guaranteed the backing of every independent, some of whom are disaffected former SNP members.

SNP group leader David Stocks said: “We have no confidence in the ramshackle Labour administration.

“Every week they are in crisis, whether it be the sudden imposition of community alarms and day service charges for vulnerable pensioners, the 60% cut in support for Citizens’ Advice Bureaux, the heartless closure of the one-stop shop for autism or the cuts to libraries and community halls.

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“However, we decided not to push an actual ‘no confidence’ vote because we would have been relying on support from rebel Labour councillors who have themselves let North Lanarkshire down in the past.

“Labour are in a mess – six resignations, others threatening to stand as independents at the elections next May and accusations of corruption and police investigations.

“They are no longer fit to run this council. There’s a complete breakdown in trust.

“We want a clean break for the residents of North Lanarkshire, with a clear SNP administration coming in after May. The dramatic rise of the SNP nationally over the last two years and Labour’s decline all point to big SNP gains.”.