:00:01. > :00:11.Harry Redknapp's late lamented Rosie all bark but no bite? We'll
:00:11. > :00:13.Tonight on Newsnight Scotland - resignations, revolts and
:00:13. > :00:17.recriminations. After a day of drama at Glasgow City Chambers,
:00:17. > :00:27.Labour did manage to get their budget passed - but only by the
:00:27. > :00:30.
:00:30. > :00:35.skin of their teeth. Are we witnessing a crisis?
:00:35. > :00:38.Good evening. Until today, passing a budget at Glasgow City Council
:00:38. > :00:41.would be considered little more than a formality. But when three
:00:41. > :00:44.Labour members quit the party in the hours leading up to today's
:00:44. > :00:47.vote and three others voted against, the result was far closer than many
:00:47. > :00:50.had expected. The budget may have been passed by two votes, but the
:00:50. > :00:52.fallout will no doubt continue right through to May's council
:00:52. > :01:00.elections. Already there are accusations of bullying and
:01:00. > :01:04.intimidation. Here's Raymond Buchanan.
:01:04. > :01:08.It's Scotland's largest local authority. It spends more than �2
:01:08. > :01:17.billion of public money a year, and for decades, it's been a Labour
:01:17. > :01:21.stronghold. Today, this political fortress looked much less solid -
:01:21. > :01:26.three disaffected and deselected Labour councillors resigned,
:01:26. > :01:30.threatening the budget. They talked of being victims of a party run by
:01:30. > :01:36.control freaks, getting rid of members just before May's local
:01:36. > :01:41.elections. Well, the fact is the Labour Party has lost its way. When
:01:41. > :01:45.it gets rid of the heart of its membership - iting I Norse the
:01:45. > :01:48.branches and the selections and doesn't give them the pick of the
:01:48. > :01:52.candidates and leaves that up to officials from London and
:01:52. > :01:57.individuals from Glasgow, then that's not right. You were a Labour
:01:57. > :02:01.councillor. Are you still a Labour councillor? No, my resignation
:02:01. > :02:05.letter went in late last night. I am no longer a Labour councillor.
:02:05. > :02:08.Why are you no longer a member of the Labour Party? I don't believe
:02:08. > :02:14.what the Labour Party is doing in Glasgow is in the best interests of
:02:14. > :02:20.Glasgow, and for a lot of us who were deselected from the mass cull,
:02:20. > :02:24.from the Labour HQ, I can no longer agree to go with Labour Party
:02:24. > :02:28.politics. Who do you blame for what's happened to the Labour Party
:02:28. > :02:34.in the city chambers? I blame London Labour because, let's be
:02:35. > :02:38.honest, this is London Labour running Glasgow Labour - Glen
:02:38. > :02:43.Matheson, the regional director up here, a guy called Ken Clarke, and
:02:43. > :02:48.there is - for whatever reason, there is a witchhunt to get the
:02:48. > :02:51.lists - what is it - 20 deselected councillors and said no way back.
:02:52. > :02:56.As previously mentioned, how can I continue to give my loyalties to
:02:56. > :03:00.the party when the Labour Party have effectively dumped all of us
:03:00. > :03:04.and classed us as dead? TV cameras were allowed into the chamber
:03:04. > :03:09.briefly, but not for a debate. Whilst there, we captured some of
:03:09. > :03:12.the new seating arrangements. Inside the chamber, we had
:03:12. > :03:17.deselected Labour councillors who had lost the party Whip moving from
:03:17. > :03:21.the ruling side to that of the opposition. There, they found
:03:21. > :03:26.people to welcome them. In fact, all of Labour's opponents ganged
:03:26. > :03:30.together and drew up this - a surprise alternative budget, handy
:03:30. > :03:37.it just happened to be ready. They'd been working on a secret
:03:37. > :03:42.deal for the past week. The city treasurer was fairly relaxed.
:03:43. > :03:46.you going to get your vote through today? Looking forward to the
:03:46. > :03:49.meeting reconvening. His boss wasn't. Gordon Matheson listened to
:03:49. > :03:53.his opponents, then rose to fight for his political life. He defended
:03:53. > :03:57.Labour's political record in the city and described the alternative
:03:57. > :04:07.budget as a shoddy deal when it came to the vote, his speech had
:04:07. > :04:13.
:04:13. > :04:16.Councillor Matheson, you won that vote. Your reaction? I am
:04:16. > :04:20.absolutely delighted. There was a shoddy little attempt at a
:04:20. > :04:25.compromise involving the SNPs and the Tories and so on. It delivered
:04:25. > :04:28.a significantly worse budget. What we stood on in there and were
:04:28. > :04:32.emfattitic about is Glasgow Labour transforming this city and our
:04:32. > :04:35.vision and our passion and the team we have leading the city forward
:04:35. > :04:38.from here - I am thrilled and delighted to have won the day
:04:38. > :04:42.because it's best for Glasgow. Let's be honest, though, this has
:04:42. > :04:47.been a day of crisis for the Labour Party. You talked about the pain
:04:47. > :04:50.inside the Labour group. Many blame you for that. How are you going to
:04:50. > :04:54.heal that? Labour doesn't take electoral success for granted at
:04:54. > :04:59.any point. We stand on our record and our vision, but every political
:04:59. > :05:02.party needs to renew itself while in office. No job, let alone a
:05:02. > :05:06.Labour councillor, is for life. It's difficult, but we had over a
:05:06. > :05:10.hundred applicants. You have to choose the best because the people
:05:10. > :05:15.deserve no better than that option. Your opponents say this has been a
:05:15. > :05:19.shambles. Some have called for you to resign. Will you? I have won a
:05:19. > :05:23.budget debate against every other party who cobbled together at the
:05:23. > :05:28.last minute some shoddy little deal with that record, with that vision,
:05:28. > :05:32.with that significant victory, the mood of Glasgow Labour is buoyant
:05:32. > :05:38.moving into this election with the passion and the vision of their
:05:38. > :05:41.team to lead the city forward. ex-councillor claimed she wouldn't
:05:41. > :05:46.be bullied or intimidated despite appeals for her to remain loyal to
:05:46. > :05:51.the party. Others accepted defeat for now. Do you think they'll learn
:05:51. > :05:58.a lesson today? No. Knowing the Labour Party as I have for a couple
:05:58. > :06:01.of years here and being a member of Glasgow, Labour don't learn the
:06:01. > :06:06.lessons and will probably blame somebody else if they lose the
:06:06. > :06:10.council come May. It will be everybody else's fault. Will they
:06:10. > :06:14.lose? Personally, I think so. is a disastrous result for Gordon
:06:14. > :06:18.Matheson. A few weeks ago he was a leader with a huge majority. He's
:06:18. > :06:21.now in a situation where he's a leader of a minority administration.
:06:21. > :06:25.Only 38 out of 70 councillors voted for his budget today. He doesn't
:06:25. > :06:28.even have the confidence of all of his members in the Labour group
:06:28. > :06:31.never mind the council and the people. If I was in his position, I
:06:32. > :06:35.would be considering his position and be resigning for the good of
:06:35. > :06:39.the people of Glasgow. So what does this mean for the future? Labour
:06:39. > :06:44.are confident of retaining Glasgow despite their obvious troubles, but
:06:44. > :06:47.the SNP are determined to end the party's rule here. Who wins in May
:06:47. > :06:52.will tell us just how much politics is changing in Scotland's biggest
:06:52. > :06:54.city. I'm joined now by Councillor Tommy
:06:54. > :06:57.Morrison, one of the three Labour members who resigned. Stephen
:06:57. > :07:05.Curran is a Labour Councillor in Glasgow South. And Derek Mackay is
:07:05. > :07:10.the local Government Minister. Can we just get some facts clear before
:07:10. > :07:14.we start the discussion, Stephen Curran? How many Labour councillors
:07:14. > :07:17.fewer are there tonight than there were this morning? Well, that's
:07:17. > :07:22.entirely up to the members who have made the decisions, unfortunately,
:07:22. > :07:25.to leave the party. The important thing today... Hang on. Just let's
:07:25. > :07:28.stick to the fact. Three left - three have resigned, right? I can't
:07:29. > :07:32.speak for the people who have resigned. I am not asking you to
:07:32. > :07:36.speak for them. I am just asking you as a member of the Labour group
:07:36. > :07:40.what's happened to your members? Three have gone. What happens to
:07:40. > :07:44.the three who voted against your budget, but who didn't resign?
:07:44. > :07:47.They're automatically suspended, aren't they? Not at all. We need to
:07:47. > :07:51.look and see. We won a budget vote today... Hang on. You can have this
:07:51. > :07:55.discussion in a minute, but surely under Labour Party rules if you
:07:55. > :07:59.vote against your own party on a budget, which is a crucial vote,
:07:59. > :08:02.you are suspended from the Labour group, aren't you? You can look at
:08:02. > :08:07.that later. I have no idea... you don't know what your own
:08:07. > :08:10.party's rules are? No, I have no idea who voted for the budgets.
:08:10. > :08:14.am not asking you who voted for it. I am asking a simple procedural
:08:14. > :08:19.point. Is it not the case if you vote against your own party in a
:08:19. > :08:22.crucial vote like the budget when you're a member of a council, then
:08:23. > :08:26.the party rules will automatically suspend those members? Is that the
:08:26. > :08:31.case or not? We certainly need to look at that. There has been cases
:08:31. > :08:32.in the past where people have voted in error. So they might have made a
:08:32. > :08:35.mistake? LAUGHTER
:08:35. > :08:41.All right. Tommy Morrison, why did you leave?
:08:41. > :08:47.Well, first of all, I didn't make a mistake. I voted for the
:08:47. > :08:52.opposition's joint budget. I didn't move from my seat, which was my
:08:52. > :08:56.Labour seat, until such time as that budget was put forward. When
:08:56. > :09:01.that budget was put forward, that was a good budget for the whole of
:09:01. > :09:05.Glasgow. That was raised by every opposition member with the
:09:05. > :09:13.exception of Councillor Deans, the Independent, and the moment that
:09:13. > :09:18.was presented, because of the work that others and myself have done,
:09:19. > :09:23.in one week to bring those opposition teams together for the
:09:23. > :09:27.good of Glasgow - within one week of putting this together, and at
:09:28. > :09:30.that point, I moved my... OK. at that point, I understood that I
:09:30. > :09:34.would be suspended. Right. But what's your problem with the Labour
:09:34. > :09:39.Party? I mean, how long have you been a member of the Labour Party?
:09:39. > :09:44.Over 15 years when I first was working with the Labour Party in
:09:44. > :09:48.1968. And how long have you been a councillor? Four years - coming up
:09:48. > :09:52.for - Right so what was - made this so important to you that you have
:09:53. > :09:56.effectively walked out on your own party? Well, what makes this more
:09:56. > :10:01.important is the way the Labour Party in Glasgow is being run. The
:10:02. > :10:07.way that the Labour Party in Glasgow is being run is it's being
:10:07. > :10:10.run by bullying, by intimidation, by harassment. You might want to
:10:10. > :10:17.ask Stephen this question, but I believe that 30 of the 40 members
:10:17. > :10:21.that voted today would not vote for the leader or for senior members of
:10:21. > :10:27.the administration. I believe that that's been used... Would you - you
:10:27. > :10:30.say - I mean, these are very emotive phrases. I don't want to go
:10:30. > :10:34.into bullying because there are all sorts of legal implications of that
:10:34. > :10:40.but one of the specific points that was made by people there is they
:10:40. > :10:43.felt that what they called "London Labour" was somehow affecting
:10:43. > :10:48.things like selection processes over the heads of the local party.
:10:48. > :10:51.Is that your view? In the selection process - and it was only Glasgow
:10:51. > :10:57.that did this. Glasgow Labour decided they were going to
:10:57. > :11:03.interview every Labour candidate, including the sitting candidates.
:11:03. > :11:07.That had never been done before. There was no provision for it if
:11:07. > :11:12.you didn't have an adverse - report. It was made up on the spot, and it
:11:12. > :11:17.was rolled out. Ken Clarke was sent up from London to carry out the
:11:17. > :11:22.dirty work. Right. But the point is, you were deselect. Yes, I was.
:11:22. > :11:27.don't have to be a cynic to say you have an obvious interest in the
:11:27. > :11:33.Labour Party because you're putting your own interests in the Labour
:11:33. > :11:36.Party? No. I had an interest in keeping the Labour Party above
:11:36. > :11:40.water. What they're doing is bringing on so much water they
:11:40. > :11:50.can't keep their boat afloat. And my colleagues and myself are more
:11:50. > :11:52.
:11:52. > :11:58.than willing to work for the good Derek Mackay, I am interested in
:11:58. > :12:05.the fact. What is your understanding of how many members
:12:05. > :12:08.are effectively exiting the Labour group? A I am not sure, but I am
:12:08. > :12:18.sure that anyone who votes against the budget is automatically
:12:18. > :12:19.
:12:19. > :12:29.suspended. It is taken as read that you vote for your own that end he
:12:29. > :12:30.
:12:30. > :12:36.and Gerona party? We are due leader saying that he was poignant today.
:12:36. > :12:44.My God, when you come out of a meeting with six fewer councillors
:12:44. > :12:50.than when you win 10, that is a disaster. Uni to understand the
:12:51. > :12:57.process here. Tommy is disgruntled. It is local members who did the
:12:57. > :13:01.interviews in Glasgow for the candidates. Are you seriously
:13:01. > :13:05.telling me that the Labour Party go into a budget meeting and coming
:13:06. > :13:15.out with six fewer councillors than the win in is anything other than
:13:15. > :13:22.an unmitigated disaster? Take results happen all over Scotland
:13:22. > :13:25.and councils. It is unusual in Glasgow. How many other councils in
:13:25. > :13:33.Scotland has Labour gone into meetings and, with fewer
:13:33. > :13:39.councillors? Las Cortes the biggest council in Scotland. The mask the
:13:39. > :13:46.vast majority who are not standing voted for the budget. A small
:13:46. > :13:50.number decided for personal reasons not to support us. Every leave
:13:50. > :13:54.aside the details of this, you know that you are in danger of losing
:13:54. > :13:59.Glasgow to the Scottish National Party, then why did Jude deselect
:13:59. > :14:07.20 councillors who you then you would be disgruntled when you they
:14:07. > :14:11.were up against this lot anyway? set the bar has a across Scotland
:14:11. > :14:15.and local government. We're representing people all over the
:14:15. > :14:23.country. I am sorry that people did not get through the selection
:14:23. > :14:31.process, like Tommy. But we have got a really good team. It is the
:14:31. > :14:41.bad thing for the Labour Party as a whole. It is not just be members,
:14:41. > :14:47.but people involved in the party at all levels who were leaving.
:14:47. > :14:52.are involved with the SNP group. Tommy said that opposition Members
:14:52. > :15:01.came together. It appeared that the Scottish National Party came
:15:01. > :15:09.forward with the budget out of nowhere for today's meeting?
:15:09. > :15:12.Parties work together all the time in opposition. The will, it was not
:15:12. > :15:22.just the Scottish National Party, that was produced by all the
:15:22. > :15:22.
:15:22. > :15:30.opposition parties. I had no part in the budget discussions. He said
:15:30. > :15:40.that you had been working over the past week with members. With
:15:40. > :15:40.
:15:40. > :15:44.members. But you're a member of the Labour Party? The we do forward an
:15:44. > :15:52.idea that if we could get everyone together we could put forward
:15:52. > :16:02.together a better budget proposals. When you see you, do you mean you
:16:02. > :16:10.
:16:11. > :16:15.and the other five members? first person we spoke to is a
:16:15. > :16:22.conservative and we then spoke to the Liberal Democrats to see if
:16:22. > :16:31.they had the feasible idea. They thought it could be a feasible idea.
:16:31. > :16:35.We then spoke to the Scottish National Party to consider whether
:16:35. > :16:45.they were interested. The last people we spoke to was only this
:16:45. > :16:45.
:16:45. > :16:55.morning and that was the Green Party. UK surely understand why
:16:55. > :17:00.
:17:00. > :17:05.even if Stephen does not know the Wait a minute. Tommy and his new
:17:05. > :17:14.colleagues cannot with the budget which took �1 million out of
:17:14. > :17:20.education compared to us. What's so find extraordinary is that we are
:17:20. > :17:23.now starting to learn that you see Tommy and another five men burst in
:17:23. > :17:32.the Labour group had been going around having meetings with the
:17:32. > :17:38.other parties for a week to plot the budget - the most crucial thing
:17:38. > :17:46.in any council - against your own party. But the Labour Party
:17:46. > :17:50.appeared to know nothing about it? Nor, that is not true. The majority
:17:50. > :17:57.of the people who were deselected did vote for the budget and for
:17:57. > :18:02.jobs and education. The majority stuck with the party. The there are
:18:02. > :18:08.now seven councillors aren't there? I'll losing count. There are the
:18:08. > :18:14.three who resigned, the three who are automatically suspended, the
:18:14. > :18:24.three who what voted against the budget and Irfan Rabbani, who
:18:24. > :18:26.
:18:26. > :18:31.defected to the Scottish National party from Labour. The air may even
:18:31. > :18:39.be further resignations to fall. The people of Glasgow will very
:18:39. > :18:45.shortly get the chance. I want to talk about what happened today, not
:18:45. > :18:54.about you or ambitions for the future. Let us ask Tommy, will you
:18:54. > :19:04.join the Scottish National Party? Let me tell you what the figures
:19:04. > :19:08.
:19:08. > :19:16.are. Today, there was 38. Colin Deans, the Independent, voted with
:19:16. > :19:22.the Labour Party. And someone else, who is suspended from the Labour
:19:22. > :19:29.Party, actually voted with them. Will you stand Labour candidates
:19:29. > :19:34.against all the people who voted against you? A thank you all very
:19:35. > :19:41.much indeed. He is a look at tomorrow's paper. Donald Trump
:19:41. > :19:45.Brown's Salmond in seen over wind farms, says the Scotsman. The
:19:45. > :19:50.Financial Times says the grease degrees more cut since a bid to
:19:50. > :20:00.Secure refresh bail-out. And in the Daily Telegraph, the elderly are
:20:00. > :20:12.
:20:12. > :20:21.told to go back to work. We are Hello. Another cold night in
:20:21. > :20:25.prospect for most of us. This snow clears the way quite sharply on
:20:25. > :20:33.bright on Friday. Some areas will actually have plenty of sunshine,
:20:33. > :20:39.such as Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. It will be a bright the end
:20:39. > :20:49.Brighton and the South East. A lot of the rain will cling on to
:20:49. > :20:54.Cornwall and the south-west corner of Wales. A lot of places will
:20:54. > :20:59.endure a snow we start in Wales. In Northern Ireland, a dry and mild
:20:59. > :21:09.start, 89 degrees celsius tomorrow. The West of Scotland will have
:21:09. > :21:09.
:21:10. > :21:19.sporadic showers throughout the day. Crucially, it this state Mail
:21:20. > :21:20.