A LOCAL councillor has this week responded to criticism from the Leader of the Conservative councillors on Fife Council after he mistakenly claimed a Tory candidate was an SNP activist. Councillor Mark Hood, chair of the Cowdenbeath Area Committee, explained: "This is an easy mistake to make, with the exception of the constitution, the SNP and Conservatives share many of the same policies."

Fife Conservative chairman, Cllr Dave Dempsey, said: “Late last year, we selected Linda Holt as our candidate for the East Neuk & Landward Ward for the Council Elections in May 2017.

“Consequently, we were astonished to be shown a post on the Facebook page of Cllr Mark Hood, Labour Chair of the Cowdenbeath Area Committee. The post criticised a letter of Linda’s that had appeared in the press. Mark Hood’s argument was that because some SNP councillors had voted against him, the letter from “the SNP activist” had no merit. You could drive a bus through the holes in that piece of logic.

“This is just another example of the theme that dominates local politics in Fife – the visceral animosity between Labour and the SNP who seem to disagree with each other for the sake of it. During debates on important issues, we sit waiting for the accusation of ‘political point scoring’, which translates as ‘we’ve stopped discussing the merits of the proposal and now we’ll just chuck mud at you lot’.

“The people of Fife deserve better than this. Cllr Hood is standing down in May. We hope that May 5 will see Cllr Holt elected. That’ll be a change for the better.”

Linda Holt added: “Political tribalism has turned local politics into a Punch and Judy show. In some areas of Fife, such as Councillor Hood’s ward, anyone who voices an opinion has to be prepared for personal abuse. No wonder community engagement is so poor, and voter turn-out so low.

“Fife Conservatives are fielding a raft of candidates committed to improving local government in Fife by bringing it closer to the communities the Council exists to serve.”

Mr Hood responded: "Both the SNP and Conservatives have continued to support the cuts to local government in Fife.

"The Conservative Government, in Westminster, continues with their failed austerity agenda, while the SNP pass these cuts on to local services at the same time cutting taxes benefitting the more well off."

Mr Hood, who is set to step down as a local councillor in May, expressed surprise at Ms Holt's decision stand in North East Fife , saying: "Linda has been active in the Cowdenbeath Area campaigning for some time, it’s a surprise she has not decided to stand in this area as the Conservative candidate.

"I expect she understands the Conservative Party have little to offer the hard pressed families of the Cowdenbeath area.

"At the moment we have around 2000 children living in poverty in the Cowdenbeath area, 6500 households living in fuel poverty and have approximately 40% of council tenants in rent arrears. This is before the full impact of the Tory welfare reform kicks in later this year.

"Likewise we have an SNP Government in Holyrood who refuse to increase taxes for those earning over £150k per year while some families in our communities depend on foodbanks to feed their children.

"So on the policies that matter to the families in the Cowdenbeath Area, there is little difference between SNP and Tory activists."