That got your attention, didn’t it?

The Liberal Democrats nearly walked out of the coalition this week.

That would be the Coalition that runs Highland Council, where we are currently have 13 Councillors and share  power in a rainbow coalition with 31 SNP and 8 Labour members. This week, there was a possibility for a while that we would walk away from that Coalition and form a new one with the independents, with whom we had been in power before the previous council election.

Liberal Democrat Group Leader David Alston explained to the Inverness Courier what it was all about:

Following the referendum there were considerable concerns as to whether or not the result was being accepted by the SNP and that caused us to ask ourselves if could we continue to work together.

But we have had assurances from the SNP group in the council that they are fully accepting that the people have spoken and that the people of the Highlands and Scotland wish to remain within the UK.

There are definitely tensions, though, that won’t just disappear.  The SNP’s centralisation of Scotland’s Police Forces and fire services has caused huge controversy. They  have since put armed police on routine duties which has infuriated many highland communities. We’ll have to see if the Coalition survives them.  SNP Councillors tend to be in thrall to their national leadership in a way that Liberal Democrats find peculiar.

However, the Liberal Democrat group will have to do it with one fewer councillor. Cllr Martin Rattray, who represents the picturesque Cromarty Firth area, has decided to sit as a non-aligned member. He told the Press and Journal:

My feeling is it has been getting harder to differentiate between the three parties within the administration.

I’ve been frustrated that we seemed to have less say in policy-making than other parties, though I’m sure my colleagues will disagree.

For all the talk of collaboration, the SNP are definitely driving the bus and I think I can represent my constituency and my party better outwith the administration.

Cllr Rattray intends to remain a member of the Liberal Democrats but to sit as a non-aligned Councillor.