A Dundee MSP was banned from an Aberdeen facility which received £7 million of Scottish Government funding, The Courier can reveal.
Joe FitzPatrick, who is the SNP administration’s minister for parliament, was due to go to Aberdeen Sports Village last Monday following the Scottish Cabinet meeting in nearby Portlethen.
However, he was told not to attend the public area on any official government business as part of a major row between the Labour-led authority and Scottish Government.
Senior sources said Aberdeen councillor Willie Young, who put forward the ban plan, telephoned a Scottish Government civil servant directly and said no events could go ahead until the “current dispute” had been resolved.
Demands included an apology to the local authority from First Minister Alex Salmond, insiders claimed. Relations between the people in control at Holyrood and the North East have been at rock bottom for months, with insults being traded on a variety of issues.
A spokesman for Mr FitzPatrick said: “Aberdeen City Council are an absolute shambles, and Councillor Young has acted way beyond his remit. He’s even been slapped down by his own party leader in the council.”
Last night, Mr Young insisted that his actions accorded with the local authority’s standing orders and he had “operated within council policy”.
He added: “It is typical of the Scottish Government that they will throw everything at people who hold them to account because they are bullies.
“The SNP have turned the machine on me but I will take it on the chin and defend my reputations and actions every day of the week.”