Smouldering tensions within the Executive are at risk of igniting

The fire dispute in Scotland, all too real on the picket line, has taken on a phoney quality round the Executive table and in TV studios.

One minister responsible for the fire service, Richard Simpson, has already gone, ruthlessly dispatched by the First Minister after his "fascist bastards" comment. He has been replaced by Hugh Henry, a son of Renfrewshire Labour politics who learned his politics while selling the newspaper Militant.

The strike has created a lot of tension when the Scottish Executive has a marginal role to play in any settlement. But that has not stopped a different dynamic of tensions building in Scotland. For Scottish Labour, Tony Blair's gamble on this dispute is badly timed, with the elections five months away. His MSPs face pressure from the left, with Tommy Sheridan and the Scottish Socialist Party working hard to benefit from the public support for the firefighters.

Politically, the SSP are making maximum mischief, with a statement yesterday offering their backing to Labour's left-wing education minister and deputy leader, Cathy Jamieson, over her refusal to condemn the strike. Jamieson's reluctance to follow Jack McConnell's line that the strike is "unacceptable" led to calls from the Scottish National Party and the Tories for her resignation.

She issued a denial yesterday of a rumour, traceable back to the SSP, that she had been on the picket line with firefighters and that she had given them a donation. Other left-wingers in the cabinet, such as Malcolm Chisholm and Margaret Curran, have not been asked to comment publicly on the strike, but they could create more cabinet tension once they do. Scottish Conservative David McLetchie has called for any pay increase linked to a no-strike agreement. "That's what I would call 'modernisation of the fire service'," he said.

SNP leader John Swinney was also stoking Labour tensions yesterday, saying the handling of the dispute has been "chaotic, shameful and an affront to Scottish values. We are witnessing government by abuse".

He praised the Scottish Trades Union Congress - not usually a friend of the SNP - for seeking a Scottish solution, but argued that McConnell had rejected the idea on instructions from London. STUC general secretary Bill Spiers's idea was to get the Executive, Scottish local authorities and the Scottish FBU leadership to thrash out a pay and reform deal, which could then be offered to London as a model agreement for UK leadership to consider.

The idea didn't fly, but his role reflected a need within Scottish Labour to keep its union relationships harmonious. McConnell, a former party general secretary, sees no advantage in alienating them. He needs them to pay his election bills. Andy Kerr, his closest lieutenant and finance minister, is a key link to the unions, having signed a protocol that placates them sufficiently on private finance of public services to get Labour through the election. The key difference with New Labour is that the Scottish version needs to fight to its left.

Copyright 2002 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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