GLASGOW Lord Provost Pat Lally yesterday astonished business leaders by claiming the Edinburgh establishment may try to stop Civil Service jobs relocating in Glasgow - just as it had scuppered plans for a national gallery in the city.
His assertion, though, was not the start of a new acrimonious battle between Glasgow and Edinburgh. He also offered the capital the olive branch of suggesting an unofficial twinning of Glasgow and Edinburgh, with Glasgow hosting Edinburgh Festival and Fringe events if an expanded Festival needed new venues.
In return, Edinburgh could put on shows from Glasgow's Celtic Connections and International Jazz Festival.
His provocative remarks came at a lunch hosted by The Herald to give decision-makers an opportunity to hear both Glasgow's Lord Provost and Edinburgh Lord Provost Eric Milligan give their views on the two cities' rivalry.
Mr Lally said Edinburgh and Glasgow were not unusual in being two large cities with incredible rivalry, but there was nevertheless a need to work in partnership and to look forward rather than harp on about ancient rivalries.
He believes Glasgow can take advantage of fresh opportunities with the creation of a Scottish Parliament, and that it should be home to more than one of the key departments of state.
But he added: ''I do have some concerns that the efforts of some members of the Edinburgh establishment, and I believe it does exist, would try and scupper such a proposal. And it is possible that they could succeed.''
He denied being alarmist, claiming that the national gallery bid for Glasgow failed ''because of the activities of a few well connected, influential individuals in Edinburgh society''.
He said he was hopeful the new Scottish Parliament could reverse the gallery decision.
More positively, he believed a new healthy, forward-looking relationship can be built between the two. He suggested the cities' enterprise companies should work together on a joint economic development plan to attract inward investors, as well as sharing arts events.
''It is probably not possible for Glasgow and Edinburgh to be formally twinned, but I don't see why we shouldn't be as enthusiastic about one another as we are about our various twin cities.
''An informal twinning arrangement would, I believe, be welcomed by our citizens as it would bring our cities closer together and inevitably bring many benefits,'' he said.
Mr Milligan told the audience of 270 that it was time to debunk the myths about Edinburgh being full of ''effete, stuffed-shirt people'' and Glasgow being a ''brash vulgar city where people go around in a violent drunken stupor''.
''These stereotypes are not only wholly inaccurate. They are also pathetic, patronising, and provincial,'' he said. With the establishment of the Parliament, it was time to be less parochial, with Glasgow and Edinburgh comparing themselves with other great international cities rather than with each other.
It was vital for them to pull together to take Scotland into the new millennium as a confident, dynamic country.
Mr Milligan also said that one of the first acts of the new Parliament should be to revitalise Glasgow, which had suffered financially from the reorganisation of local government.
''The challenge for us is to give Glasgow back its old confidence - the cockiness, the swagger that we traditionally associate with Scotland's largest city and which has appeared somewhat lacking of late.''
Editor of The Herald Harry Reid said there had to be a genuine effort to get ''our two great cities closer together''.
He said it was a nonsense that robust civic rivalry, which was perfectly proper, had often descended into disputation and silliness.
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