LABOUR’S Alex Rowley was left squirming in Holyrood during First Minister’s Questions after Nicola Sturgeon praised him for his botched attempt to start Budget negotiations.
Earlier this week the hapless former deputy leader was carpeted by Richard Leonard after he offered Derek Mackay the support of Labour MSPs to help him get his spending plans through Parliament.
Rowley, the party’s local government spokesman, said Labour would back the budget if the SNP minister could find another £340m for Scotland’s councils.
Labour would “work to support the Government if we are able to secure protections against the worst of the cuts to local services”, the Fife MSP said in his letter, which was obtained by the Times.
But Leonard forced Rowley to withdraw the offer, as he hadn’t secured permission to approach Mackay.
The paper’s sources said he was spoken to “quickly and quite uncompromisingly”.
When Leonard asked Sturgeon about council funding plans during First Minister’s Questions, the SNP leader was quick to point out the chaos in his own party.
Leonard told the First Minister: "Our councils have a legal duty to vulnerable people, including children, and you have a moral duty to deliver the funding they need.
"By asking this Parliament to vote for a Budget that cuts council services by over £300 million, you are failing in that duty."
Scottish Budget LIVE: Derek Mackay struggles to gain support for spending plans
Sturgeon replied: "Richard Leonard talks about the Budget and makes criticisms – he has failed to bring forward a single alternative Budget proposal and that is simply not acceptable.
"Credit to Alex Rowley, at least he brought forward a proposal. Given he's a front-bencher, we assumed it was an official Labour proposal, but they can't even get their act together to agree with each other on the Budget, let alone agree with anyone else.
"In that proposal, Alex Rowley suggested that we free up more money for local government by effectively taking 3% out of every other budget, except health – that would have included social security.
"So taking 3% out of our own social security budget is the closest that Labour came to making any Budget proposals.
"So I simply say this to Richard Leonard: If he wants anybody, not just me, but anybody across the country to take Labour seriously on the Budget, he really has to do more than stand up here and moan, he actually has to start bringing forward some proposals, because he hasn't done so, so far."
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