A LABOUR-RUN Scottish council spent money put away for children’s toys to promote the King’s coronation, The National can reveal.
Edinburgh Council also raided its schools budget to pay for promotion of the lavish ceremony, figures obtained by the Alba Party show.
The Labour-run local authority also received £35,000 to show the event on a big screen in Princes Street Gardens.
The coronation received wall-to-wall coverage on BBC One, BBC Two, ITV and Sky News.
Council budgets in Scotland are under severe pressure and three months before the coronation, Edinburgh Council leader Cammy Day (below) complained the city had received “worst grant funding of any local authority in Scotland”.
Announcing the local authority’s budget in February this year, Day announced cuts of nearly £80 million in the council’s spending.
He said: “Despite the unique demands of a capital city, Edinburgh continues to receive the worst grant funding of any local authority in Scotland.
“Years of local government cuts have now come to a head, forcing us to find close to £80m of savings this year – on top of the hundreds of millions we’ve made already. It’s a position none of us wanted to be in and our residents deserve better.”
READ MORE: 'I don't give a s*** about the royals': The mood at Edinburgh's coronation screening
At the time of the coronation, inflation was running at 8.7%, piling pressure on household budgets.
Figures shared with The National show that the council spent £468.40 from Edinburgh’s nursery budget. A spokesperson was unable to say exactly how this money was used.
In its promotion of the coronation, city officials also spent £192.76 in cash from the council library budget’s promotion and toy fund for “materials to mark the coronation”.
It is understood this related to £185 spent on children’s craft events at libraries in Newington, Gilmerton, Moredun and Morningside. The remaining £7.76 is thought to have been spent on themed book displays in libraries.
And £666 was awarded to a street party from the council’s community grant fund.
Alba said using funds for children’s toys for coronation events was “beyond belief” and called for Day to quit as council leader if he signed off on the decision.
Chris McEleny (above), Alba’s general secretary, said: “This is a moral disgrace that tells you all you need to know about Labour-run Edinburgh Council.
“To think that any councillor worth their salt, regardless of your views on the monarchy, would take money from a kids toy fund to help promote the coronation is beyond belief.
READ MORE: Rishi Sunak blocks Scottish Government from attending major AI summit
“You couldn’t miss the coronation unless you kept your TV turned off all day, so who thought it was a good idea to raid school budgets also?
“Edinburgh Council must make it clear if the council leader signed off on this. If he did he has to go.
“One thing I know for sure, if there were Alba Party councillors in the City Chambers this would not have happened.”
Edinburgh Council declined to comment.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel