Lord provost not switched-on over switch-on

Dundee has been in the national media recently over the City Council's decision to dispense with the traditional Christmas lights switch-on, which will now be called the Winter Light Night. Church groups and others have complained that the rebranding has eroded the traditional Christian aspect to the festival. Unsurprisingly, others still have viewed the decision as born of political correctness, with the Christmas element being dropped to avoid offending members of non-Christian faiths.

However, it's since been reported (not online) that the council and church groups have held meetings to clear the air, with the SNP administration insisting that the event has merely been extended from the traditional Christmas lights switch-on, hence the change in title. Indeed, when the Courier first reported the new event in August the council's development director was quoted as saying that "the Christmas lights will also be switched on for the first time for the event".

On the other hand, perhaps comments on the Homecoming Scotland website by development committee convenor Will Dawson do allude to a desire to downgrade the significance of the Christian element, if not to 'cancel Christmas' altogether: "The varied programme of Winter Light Night reflects today’s Dundee as a diverse and vibrant city. There will be something to suit all tastes, and everyone is invited."

Anyway, today's Courier reports that Dundee's lord provost John Letford - who it should be recalled defected from Labour to help the SNP take control of the city council, but who remains a staunch Unionist - shares "the churches’ view about the omission of the word Christmas from the switching on of the lights", following complaints that "the Christian faith has been betrayed and that he was responsible".

And Mr Letford claims he was in the dark on the lights:

He accepted that an item about the Winter Night Light had gone through committee and he had not opposed it but said that was because he believed what was being proposed was in addition to the traditional Christmas lights event, rather than a replacement.

But it is in addition to the Christmas lights and not a replacement, surely? Indeed, the council has responded:

The proposal for the Winter Night Light celebration was approved unanimously at a meeting of the city development committee on Monday, August 24. The report (submitted to the committee) explained that the Christmas lights will also be switched on for the first time for the event.

Which is in fact what was in essence outlined by the Courier report almost three months ago - presumably Mr Letford neither paid attention to what was going on when the committee met nor read the report about the proposal in the local press.

Of course, in view of the lord provost's role in propping up the SNP administration there's a potential political dimension to all of this, but more importantly this issue is perhaps instructive as regards the efficacy of the council's decision making process.

In the normal course of events the fact that councillors are voting on matters they are not 'switched-on' about will not become an issue, but this particular controversy at least highlights that much of our so-called local democracy is little more than municipal government by officialdom, with councillors merely turning up to rubber-stamp decisions made by the bureaucrats.