SNP throw their toys out the tram

I can here SNP Tactical Voting "Yip"ing at this one. And Georgio Foulkes getting ready to rant again.

An SNP councillor is calling for the resignation of the boss of Edinburgh's tram project.

He claims that "gridlock" on the first day of roadworks on the Mound, means that this is a massive failure, and TIE chief Willie Gallagher should resign.

Now, I've not been a fan of the trams4edinburgh idea from the beginning, and still think they're a bad idea, but Steve Cardownie is making a fool of himself.

Day One: something goes wrong, so someone should get sacked? What a nonsense philosophy.

My focus of agitation towards leader of the SNP group, Cardownie, is two-fold.

ONE - for the last few months, if you tried to travel up Leith Walk during rush hour in a car or bus, you were met with gridlock and ridiculous delays and diversions. Did you scream about it then? No. You only grumble (grumble = demanding a resignation) when

"It was just terrible on Wednesday, I had to make two U-turns to get home as it was pandemonium." Aww, bless.

Ok, so because you had some difficulty driving in Edinburgh (where it's difficult enough anyway), you blow a fuse? This is what you call a ridiculous case of political road rage.

If you gave a toss about transport and infrastructure and Edinburgh, you'd have known that Leith Walk was like this already, has been for months, but you didn't, and you didn't complain, so don't just moan because it inconveniences you a wee bit.

TWO - Anyone who sits on Edinburgh City Council, can shut the f*ck up when talking about traffic and gridlock in the capital. Edinburgh City Council are legendary for their inability, AS A COUNCIL (so don't be blaming contractors), regardless of which party held control, when it comes to roadworks and gridlock. Maybe it was gridlocked because everything else was in such a mess that a tiny bit of roadworks (remember, this is just DAY ONE) sends it over the edge.

So George Foulkes, if you want to rant at this guy, go ahead.


Although I don't agree with the trams, they're going ahead and I just have to live with it. Part of living with it is accepting that to make progress, things will have to be disrupted for a while. The SNP have to realise, that the votes have been cast, counted and verified and we're having a tram system and what comes with that. To demand the resignation of TIE's Willie Gallagher is just the SNP through their toys oot the tram because they didn't get what they wanted.

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He also uses the most potentially dangerous line anyone from the SNP could throw out there...


"The buck has to stop somewhere, so I would say that would be the chief executive...he is responsible so he has to resign.
"How could it have gone so badly and how do we know it won't happen again? With power comes responsibility."

So the next time Salmond/the Government/a Government agency/an SNP employee messes up, I expect to here from Steve Cardownie with such phrases directed towards Salmond.