Aberdeen’s Labour-led administration has sparked fury by using council resources to promote the Better Together campaign against Scottish independence.
Letters issued to every ratepayer in the city next week will contain a message from coalition leader Barney Crockett that refers to the council’s position on September’s referendum in the opening paragraph. Mr Crockett will say that Aberdeen is “stronger now and will be stronger in the future – economically, politically and socially – as a partner within the United Kingdom”.
The correspondence will accompany annual council tax and business rate bills issued to residents and businesses.
Last night SNP MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Mark McDonald, said the move was an “outrageous” use of public funds and urged an investigation by chief executive Valerie Watts.
“This is further evidence of an out-of-control council administration who think they can do whatever they like and abuse their position to their heart’s content,” he said.
“The simple truth is that this is a grotesque misuse of council resources by the council leader, attempting to influence the voting behaviour of the citizens of Aberdeen and using local authority money to pay for it.”
Mr Crockett argued that independence would be “cataclysmic” for Aberdeen and said the expenditure on the letters was “marginal” in comparison to the resources deployed by the Yes campaign.
“This is about the needs of the city and, as we see it, separation will be bad for Scotland and even worse for Aberdeen. You only have to look at some of the comments from business people in this area. It seems strange that the SNP would complain given the vast sums of public money that they have spent on trying to secure a Yes vote. This is a very small contribution from the city.
“The letter provides an update on what the council has been doing, and our policy on this issue has been consistent.”
A council spokeswoman said the statement on independence was the “agreed position” of the authority, voted through by the Labour-Conservative-Independent administration in 2012 and again in December last year.
Meanwhile, an online poll set up on Wednesday calling for a vote of no confidence in the council chiefs had reached 1,095 signatures by last night.
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