A sinister programme of Nazi abduction and murder has been compared to Aberdeen City Council book-keeping.
Councillors met to agree on their annual budget yesterday, slashing millions from spending plans.
It will force the closure of libraries and a review of nurseries – as well as scything hundreds of thousands from sports and culture spending.
Sistema Scotland’s Big Noise Torry was one big-name casualty of the SNP and Liberal Democrat budget. Sport Aberdeen was another.
But not only was there outrage at the contents of the proposals, there was fury at opponents being given only 10 minutes to scrutinise them.
By comparison, the Conservative-led Aberdeenshire Council administration is sharing its budget a whole week before the meeting, in order to allow talks and consensus.
‘Vacuous soundbite’ or ‘pithy’ phrase? Aberdeen budget meeting’s Nazi reference
It was a perceived sleekitness that irked both the Conservatives and Labour, with the latter’s group leader turning to extreme examples to hit out.
Barney Crockett told colleagues: “Adolf Hitler said: ‘If you are doing the kind of things we’re doing, then you must do them in circumstances of night and fog’.
“And so we get a budget presented very much in circumstances of night and fog.
“You can’t see very clearly what is being proposed. And we have the full range of the three card trick, giving with one hand and taking away with another.”
It was the first of two Nazi references, later criticised as not being in the best taste by Lord Provost David Cameron.
Fellow SNP councillor John Cooke added Mr Crockett had spouted “vacuous soundbites” throughout proceedings.
Aberdeen budget meeting speed-read: ‘I read War and Peace in twenty minutes… it involves Russia.’
Filmmaker Woody Allen’s thoughts on speed-reading and man of letters Samuel Johnson’s dislike of cucumber were channelled into the debate by the Aberdeen Labour leader.
Keen historian Mr Crockett later told The P&J he thought the Nazi reference was a “pithy way to sum up the SNP way of doing business”.
Night and fog – nacht und Nebel – was a directive from Adolf Hitler at the end of 1941.
Once given, political activists and resistance helpers in countries occupied by Nazi Germany were abducted, imprisoned or killed.
Mr Crockett said he was “not in any way” suggesting the SNP and Liberal Democrats were similar to the Nazis or capable of such atrocities.
He had paraphrased Hitler only to highlight what he thought was sleight of hand budgeting – “a lot of dressing up of previous administration projects”.
Lack of consultation before budget meeting criticised
Before the 10-minute break to allow politicians to digest each other’s budgets, there was a 15-minute argument about an initial request for a 20-minute recess.
Mr Crockett criticised the lack of time to scrutinise the plans, as well as the lack of consultation with community groups.
Around 100 protestors gathered at the Town House door before the meeting was underway, urging vital financial support to be protected.
Much of the concern was for the Fairer Aberdeen funding, which the SNP and Lib Dems had revealed would be protected in that morning’s P&J.
Spooked community leaders sat in the public gallery in the hope their funding would be spared.
‘Let’s get this on the record’…
The lack of engagement was a frustration shared by Conservative group leader Ryan Houghton.
In previous years, when his Tory group ran the council with Labour, hundreds of people were brought to the Town House for consultation on community funding before the spending plans were agreed.
“Let’s get this on record because I have heard it said and I’ve seen it in correspondence,” Mr Houghton said.
“It is not true that the administration is somehow completely unable to engage in dialogue with these organisations because of budget confidentiality.
“When the budget papers were published last Wednesday, there was nothing stopping the co-leaders or their colleagues engaging with organisations and hearing their views.
“But they didn’t want to do it because they were hiding. We know why they were hiding – because they have seen the scale of the cuts they are putting through.”
Conversation