LABOUR proposals for directly-elected provosts in Scotland were attacked by the Liberal Democrats yesterday as ''seriously flawed'', writes Ken Smith.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Jim Wallace warned that taking power away from the hands of a few Labour councillors and then concentrating it instead in the hands of a single mayor or cabinet-style executive simply beggared belief.
The Lib Dems argue instead that introducing proportional representation for councils would be a far more democratic reform of local government.
They point out for example that in Glasgow where Labour only achieved 61% of the vote, it ended up with 93% of the seats on the city council.
The party fears that Labour will use the smokescreen of local government sleaze amongst its own Labour-controlled councils, to introduce reforms which would mean fewer councillors, and power controlled amongst fewer people.
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