We should all recognise that, sometimes, one political tribe takes pot-shots at another for no good reason other than they are members of another tribe.
What’s right doesn’t matter. They do damage just by making noise.
So I am wary when Conservative or Labour politicians criticise Dundee Council’s SNP group over the Olympia debacle.
Are these politicians really acting in the best interests of the people of Dundee? Or do they just want to score political points?
Of course, such an important matter should not have been allowed to become an inter-party football to be kicked about and “scored” with.
But we now have a situation where a number of senior figures on the wider Scottish political scene are criticising the refusal to hold a proper inquiry.
That should tell us something.
It tells us that a weakness has been identified. These politicians of other parties see a chance to bash the Dundee SNP group over the Olympia saga.
The biggest problem of all is that the Dundee SNP group are aiding and abetting this process by handling the whole thing so amateurishly.
Dundee SNP group’s silence on Olympia speaks volumes
They have allowed this to develop into a bona-fide scandal.
The refusal to hold an investigation into why so much Dundee council tax payers’ money is being spent on this looks lame to everyone, no matter which political party they support.
The city’s ruling group have made themselves vulnerable, and allowed people from outwith Dundee to take aim at them and fire.
That doesn’t do our city any good.
Batting off calls from opposition councillors for a public inquiry, council leader John Alexander said last month there had been “multiple points of failure” and no “singular answer” to the problems.
No wonder the circling sharks smell blood in such an inadequate answer. They see how weak it is.
The pointed silence of the rest of Dundee’s SNP group has made Mr Alexander’s position even more difficult.
Not one of them has come out to back their leader. They look like they have abandoned him.
How many have given interviews saying what a good job has been done with the Olympia? How many have said anything?
They have allowed him to carry on digging a hole.
What do others have to say?
One reasonable conclusion to be taken from this stony silence might be that they don’t agree with his handling of the matter.
Are there divisions there if not one will come out and back their leader?
Perhaps some in the SNP group believe a better tactic would be openness, a willingness to allow investigation, and good communications around all of that?
Perhaps they think someone else might grasp the Olympia problem, and deal with it decisively?
Who knows?
In an information vacuum, all theories are viable.
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