Cracks within Aberdeen’s SNP group have deepened as second councillor has broken her silence after refusing to back city centre bus gates. Bridge of Don councillor Alison Alphonse joined former Aberdeen SNP group leader Alex Nicoll by breaking ranks as her colleagues voted the controversial measures through. Days of anger have followed since the vote took place.
Now Ms Alphonse has given her reasoning as to why she couldn’t opt for Aberdeen’s bus gates to stay. Speaking exclusively to The Press and Journal, Ms Alphonse explained her decision to abstain from the crunch vote. “I did the right thing,” she said. “I had a lot of discussions with my constituents. They told me they were getting confused coming into the city centre.”
Before last Friday’s crucial bus gate talks, almost 12,000 locals took a stand and expressed a similar view – which fell on deaf ears as the measures were set in stone. Ultimately, 21 SNP and Lib Dem members outvoted the 15 Tory, Labour and independent members to make the “experimental” changes a lasting fixture.
The legal advice regarding the council’s installation of the bus gates, and risk that government funding for improvements elsewhere could be snatched back, has come under some scrutiny. This is what many in the ruling group based their decision on. Opposition councillors had previously fought tooth and nail to see the advice, and when they were given the chance, one member took advantage.
Councillor M Tauqeer Malik pocketed the top-secret legal papers, much to the anger of the council’s legal team. But Ms Alphonse said this did not influence her decision. “Absolutely not,” she told us. But she added: “I absolutely endorse Alex Nicoll [who abstained over the legal advice]. I agree with him 100%.”
Mr Nicoll was the other SNP member to break ranks and abstain from voting in favour of the bus gates. His concerns came from “the lack of any substantial challenge to those questions, and the position they developed”.
But despite listening to her constituents’ pleas to axe the hugely unpopular bus gates, Ms Alphonse abstained from voting – and did not vote for the Common Sense Compromise which sought to remove some of the bus gates. She told The P&J:”(I abstained from the vote) because they were already in place before we were in administration”. After being asked for clarity on this answer, she simply stated: “I don’t want to say any more”. Aberdeen’s SNP group declined to comment.
