A POLITICAL blame game has broken out over the Edinburgh bin strike, with parties accusing each other as the city chokes on reeking garbage. 

An SNP Cabinet Secretary today insisted the newly elected Labour-led council was at fault, while his opponents blamed years of underfunding by the SNP adminstration at Holyrood.

Angus Robertson, the SNP MSP for Edinburgh Central, said that in its "first test of civic leadership since taking over Edinburgh Council, the Labour-led unofficial coalition has fallen dramatically at the first hurdle".

Writing in the Edinburgh Evening News, he said Labour, supported by the Tories and Liberal Democrats, had offered a “measly pay rise” to refuse collectors.

The result was “rubbish and waste on our streets and overflowing bins” causing “a disgusting blight on the city for its residents and tourists, just as thousands are here for the festivals”.

The Unite union have refused a pay offer by local authorities from 3.5% to 5 per cent.  

Nicola Sturgeon has said she hopes the 5% offered by the council umbrella body Cosla last Friday will be enough to end the disruption

The 12-day strike is due to last until August 30, with other strikes planned for SNP-led Glasgow, Falkirk, Midlothian, Perth & Kinross and North Ayrshire.  

Council and union leaders are due to meet again today to discuss the situation.

READ MORE: Edinburgh bin strike - Unions to meet councils with streets strewn with rubbish

Bins throughout Edinburgh are now overflowing with rubbish and the city is living up to its ‘Auld Reekie’ nickname as the garbage ferments in the heat.

There are fears the litter-strewn streets will attract rats, altough the main problems so far are flies, wasps and a sickly smell.

The bins are also a hugely unwelcome eyesore in the tourist season. 

Mr Robertson insisted Edinburgh City Council had “enough money” to offer a “reasonable” pay rise. 

He said: “From the off, the council had enough money to cover a rise of over 4.5% without needing to look at other finance.

“Add to this a further payment of £140 million from the Scottish Government and Edinburgh Council had the lion’s share needed to take the pay rise offer to a reasonable 5%, the least our hard-working staff deserved.

“Instead of taking advantage of this… government help, Labour, the Lib Dems and Tories together decided to withhold a whole percentage point of the already available rise and proposed to workers the insulting increase of 3.5%.

“This short-changed workers by less than the cash available now, with Edinburgh Council’s Labour, Tory, Lib Dem administration pocketing that money. At a time when energy bills are increasing and everyday costs are rocketing, this was a slap in the face.

“If Labour wants to pitch itself as a viable option to voters, it would not be withholding pay rises for those who work hard to keep our streets clean and our city beautiful.”

Mr Robertson said it was a “damning indictment of the new Labour-run council”, with Labour, which has 13 seats out of a total of 64, relying on the Tories and LibDems. 

Prior to May’s local election, the city was run by an SNP-Labour coalition.

Edinburgh Labour leader Cammy Day said his administration was “continuing to push hard for a resolution as quickly as possible”.

He said: “We also need to carry on pressing the Scottish Government to give us more flexibility on how we use our resources and as well as providing fairer funding for our services.”

Lothians Tory MSP Miles Briggs, said: “The SNP have been underfunding local councils and stripping money away from essential services like bin collections since they came to power – yet now they have the brass neck to try and dodge responsibility for this shambles.

“While the SNP desperately try to deflect blame, rubbish is piling up on our streets and in our homes.

“In the middle of the summer season, with the Edinburgh Festival in full swing and tourists visiting all corners of the country, the SNP’s inaction and deflection risks embarrassing us on an international scale.

“The SNP have landed us in this mess, and it’s past time they took action to clean it up.

“The Nationalists must urgently intervene to resolve these strikes and finally commit to the fair funding for local councils that we have been calling for, for years.”

Scottish LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, the MSP for Edinburgh Western, said the SNP were “abdicating responsibility” for strike action and called for an emergency budget review to deliver more support for local authorities and ease the cost-of-living crisis.  

Unite have refused a pay offer by local authorities from 3.5% to 5%.  

He said: “The way the SNP are handling this whole sorry affair is absolutely appalling. “Whether it’s rubbish, the cost-of-living crisis or our healthcare emergency, they don’t seem to be lifting a finger to help anyone. 

“It’s depressingly predictable that despite his party slashing council budgets over and over again, Angus Robertson’s first instinct isn’t to offer a solution, it's to point the finger at others.  

“No one wants to live in a dirty, rat-infested city.

“Refuse workers are being hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis. They need emergency changes to the budget which will properly fund local government and support those in need. 

"The Scottish Government must fund local authorities so that they can afford to give workers a proper pay rise and put an end to this mess.” 

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We urge local authority and union representatives to come to an agreement to resolve the dispute as soon as possible.

“The Scottish Government is treating councils fairly and providing a real terms increase of 6.3% to local authority budgets this year, as well as providing an extra £140 million of funding on a recurring basis to support a higher pay award for council staff.”