Lib Dems need to govern for all

SOME time ago, one of Jack McConnell's spin doctors told me that the Labour Party was in despair about the way Edinburgh's building boom could affect the party's future chances. "There are no family homes being built, it's all just flats for young, single Lib Dem voters. Our traditional voters are being pushed out of the city," he moaned.

And so it has come to pass, that Labour no longer runs the city – or Scotland for that matter – and a Liberal Democrat-led coalition has assumed local control. Of course the housing market cannot be solely blamed for Labour's misfortunes – they did enough by themselves to be ousted from the City Chambers – but since Jenny Dawe and co took power, it is interesting to note that those areas of the city which once felt the full focus of council help have witnessed a real shift.

When the initial school closures list was put forward, for instance, it was noticeable that the majority were in deprived areas. Indeed only one could truly be classed as being in real "middle-class" territory – Stockbridge. The majority were from Craigmillar, Wester Hailes, Bingham, Leith, Newhaven, Sighthill and Burdiehouse – not traditional Lib Dem power bases. Dalmeny was the only one in one of the Lib Dems' long-held wards which was singled out.

At that time Craigmillar and Wester Hailes looked likely to be the worst hit with the high schools under threat. Castlebrae and Wester Hailes – designed to help children from less advantaged backgrounds – were facing closure.

The council, in a plan which seemed to have no grip on reality, believed that the pupils at these two schools could instead attend Liberton or Forrester secondaries.

Yes that's right. Pupils who can find it difficult to get motivated enough to attend a school in their own backyards, would instead willingly get on a bus and travel some distance for their education.

Of course, thanks to the parental outcry, rather than condemn a generation of children to having no access to secondary education, the idea was put on the backburner. However, the cross-party group which has been looking at primary school closures – for some will have to go, there can be no doubt about that – has it seems, still got Lismore, Bonnington, Victoria and Westburn primaries in its sights. That's Bingham, Leith, Newhaven and Sighthill all potentially affected. As Gail Ross, secretary of the Lismore Parents Action Group said: "They are trying to take away from the needy once again."

Similarly, thanks to the budget cuts, it's community and voluntary groups in deprived areas which are most affected.

While the King's Theatre and the new stand for the Military Tattoo had a total of £9 million guaranteed by the council, the Oxgangs Neighbourhood Centre and the North Edinburgh Childcare Centre had their grants frozen – effectively a cut. Others, like the Bingham and District Older Peoples Project, Calton Youth Ministry and the Gorgie/Dalry Partnership had funding slashed.

There's a definite feeling that the Lib Dems haven't quite got to grips with the idea that they're representing the whole city now, and not just their own wards, traditionally the more well-heeled places like Corstorphine, Gyle, Merchiston, Marchmont, Sciennes and Newington.

Of course, if that Labour spin doctor is right and the rash of new flats being built in the city changes the voting pattern so completely that the Lib Dems become the obvious ruling party, then they won't have to care about the effects of closing facilities in the city's poorer areas as it won't affect their results at the polls.

But that's if they want their legacy to be that not only did they leave those in deprived areas disenchanted with them, but also disenfranchised.

Write out of order
IT seems that those who are used to breathing the rarified air of the British Library are piqued because they can't get a seat since the library opened its doors to the public. Lady Antonia Fraser has even been complaining that she had to queue for 20 minutes to get in.

But surely, rather than complain, she should celebrate the fact that the British Library has seen fit to offer its enormous archive to the masses and that so many people want to use it.

Similarly in Edinburgh, the National Library of Scotland has a policy of only allowing a select few into the reading room. If you're an academic, a historian, a postgraduate student then that's fine, otherwise you're likely to be, ever so politely, rejected. It's understandable that rare and ancient texts shouldn't be handled by too many people, but the fact that you have to give your profession before you can even get a short-term ticket smacks too much of a who's who approach to a facility owned by the people of Scotland. It's time the NLS took a leaf out of the British Library's book.

Bed and bored
APPARENTLY it's "bloody unbelievable" that Tracey Emin's retrospective show at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art can't get a sponsor. So says Simon Groom, the galleries' director of modern and contemporary art.

Well I think it's just too believable that no-one wants to put their name to this controversial artist and her work – especially when a home-grown Turner Prize winner such as Douglas Gordon can't find one for his exhibition either.

Perhaps it's time to realise that Emin's time is over. She's unmade her bed, now she can lie in it.