I watched the live stream of Dundee City Council’s governance committee debating an inquiry into the Olympia debacle.
I thought I’d strayed into an alternative universe, where up is down, black is white, and history is whatever you want it to be.
I have worries about the inquiry’s remit, but – first things first – there were aspects of Monday night’s meeting that cannot pass without comment.
In seconding leader John Alexander’s motion for an inquiry, SNP councillor Heather Anderson said of the Olympia: “We have sat in group meetings and expressed our frustrations, we have asked hundreds of questions about what has been happening.”
Then – I kid you not – with a straight face followed with: “It is important to be as open as possible”.
That deserves repetition: “Important! As open as possible!”
The only other SNP councillor to contribute was Siobhan Tolland, though she really only spoke up to attack the Labour group’s amendment asking to widen the scope.
She claimed: “We want a robust, objective, detailed inquiry . . . we’ve all got about three million questions we want answered.”
That’s also worth highlighting: “Three million questions”!
Have a look yourself at the video, from about one hour, nine minutes in.
Calls for Olympia answers come too late
Oh the irony of the SNP group demanding that the holy grail of truth be found!
Nor shall their swords sleep in their hands till they have built the new Jerusalem of an open, robust, objective inquiry.
Where was all this brave talk last year?
SNP group, when did you first inform your constituents of this burning desire for truth, justice, and the importance of being as open as possible?
During the two-year closure did any of you (apart from John Alexander saying “no skeletons in the closet”) speak up about the Olympia?
None of you said a thing. None of you put your head above the parapet. You didn’t seem to have noticed it was closed.
Now you’re trying to look like crusaders of virtue? The hypocrisy is breath-taking.
Councillors, if you’d been campaigning for an inquiry – since 6.1 million reasons made it starkly obvious one was needed – you’d have had the whole city behind you.
But you did the opposite. You deflected, you hid, you ignored questions you now claim are vitally important.
Do you really think paper warriors, full of self-righteous sound and fury but arriving after the battle is over, will fool anyone?
What really happened was you put party loyalty miles in front of loyalty to voters.
You didn’t give a damn about Dundee kids being taught to swim, you cared only for marching in step with your cronies.
When the people really needed you, you cowered away.
Surely Dundee can do better? Surely there are candidates with a strand of moral fibre, the faintest spark of fire in the belly, the remotest sense of responsibility to constituents?
People with the guts to speak up when speaking up should be done.
And take fair warning. If this inquiry doesn’t encompass absolutely everything, from conception of the Olympia plan to the present day, then none of you can ever again say a thing about Dundee without being laughed at.
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