Labour in Sprinklers Farce

The SNP won the day in persuading Falkirk Council to support the Fire Brigade Union campaign for the installation of sprinklers at the new Larbert hospital after a New Labour farce.

SNP Councillor Lynda Kenna, chair of the Central Scotland Health Board moved at the recent meeting of Falkirk Council that the local authority support the FBU campaign to have sprinklers installed at the new Larbert hospital.

The FBU had highlighted the problem of PFI, the method of funding the hospital that results in money being diverted away from the hospital to meet the profit demands of the private developer.

A sprinkler system would cost around £800,000 but despite the fact that NHS Forth Valley will pay £33m a year for the next 30 years there will be no sprinklers installed at the hospital.

During the debate at Falkirk Council leader of the Labour / Conservative coalition, Linda Gow, moved as an amendment to the SNP motion that the council ask the Health Board to "consider" the installation of a sprinkler system at the hospital.

However, after a 20 minute recess in which the Labour Group took advice from FBU secretary, Gordon McQuade, in which they were advised by the FBU that the health board had already considered the installation and rejected the option the hapless New Labour leader sought to amend their amendment.

New Labour's amendment was to call on the health board to install a sprinkler system, an identical request to that contained in the SNP motion as acknowledged by the New Labour Provost, Pat Reid to hoots of laughter from the SNP benches.

The subsequent vote was then between a call to demand the health board to install sprinklers against a call to demand the health board to install sprinklers at the new hospital.

Speaking after the vote SNP Councillor Kenna said,

"When the SNP proposed the installation of sprinklers at the hospital we did so knowing that the childish minds within the Labour Party would not allow us to have our way.

Despite this the SNP did indeed get our way and the bonus was to expose the Labour / Tory coalition administration as a pathetic narrow minded and incompetent bunch.

Labour seem to glory in being laughed at but that is their problem, the bottom line for the SNP is that we were able to persuade Falkirk Council to back the FBU campaign for sprinklers in the new Larbert hospital."

Incidentally the vote between demanding the health board installs sprinklers against the demand that the health board install sprinklers was 18 votes to 12 votes.