'The challenges require vision and decisiveness'

WHETHER it is Labour's fault or not, there is a growing air of crisis in the City Chambers and the mark of the ruling coalition will be the way it deals with the challenges it faces.

A massive backlash over the school closure plans, extensive cutbacks in care services, a strike over redundancies that haven't happened, a renewed bid to get the controversial Caltongate scheme through and the ongoing uncertainty over Meadowbank all require a clarity of vision and decisiveness so that the people of Edinburgh understand the direction in which they are being taken.

Thus far, the clearest message to come out of the City Chambers is that Labour have left a terrible mess and that any unpopular decisions should be laid at the doors of Ewan Aitken and Donald Anderson. To borrow from former Tory leader David McLetchie, the coalition could be saying that "the big boys Ewan and Donald did it and ran away".

Except that they didn't run away. They were kicked out and the Lib Dems also must remember that they had the chance to work with Labour but overwhelmingly rejected that option on the basis that the public had voted to ditch them. Faced with mounting problems it may well be that some will rue the day they gave up the opportunity to retain the experience of the likes of the wily Ian Perry.

Having been unceremoniously dumped, Labour will use the benefit of its years of experience to make life uncomfortable for the new rulers, and it may well be that Labour's apparent U-turn on Meadowbank is not all that it seems. It is true that it has decided to back the coalition's aim of retaining Meadowbank, but it seems an extraordinary about-face when the financial situation has not changed. Having seen its opponents pledge to save the stadium in the run-up to the May election, the most likely interpretation of its new position is that it is quite happy to see the coalition get itself into deeper hot water as they try to explain why they are unable to honour their commitments.

With Glasgow's Commonwealth Games bid relying on the refurbishment of the Commonwealth Pool, there is perhaps a hope that the Nationalist government will come up with the cash for that part of the plan in order to save face internationally. And having been defeated on trams, maybe Kenny MacKaskill and Steve Cardownie will battle to have this election pledge honoured.

But pity the officers who spent the last three years preparing the detailed plans for sports provision across the city, only to see their hard work kicked around like the political football it has become. If there is group of council staff under pressure it is the senior officers who are caught between a demoralised workforce and bickering political leaders trying to find their feet, if not their level.

There is certainly a growing impression that Labour is only just beginning to enjoy itself in opposition and there will be ample opportunity for it to use its experience for mischief-making in the weeks and months to come.