Deal with Tories?

Is First Minister Nicola Sturgeon right to be equivocal about the chance of deals between the Conservatives and the SNP to run some of our councils after 4 May? (Your report, 22 April).

In terms of raw politics she needs to be careful about too close an association in view of another Uk-wide poll five weeks later. It would be anomalous if the two parties were seen to be trying to work together in the local authorities whilst trying to tear each other apart in a general election campaign.

It still needs to be pointed out that the SNP was a very strong supporter of the single transferable vote method of election to councils when it was introduced ten years ago.

It must have been anticipated that implicit in this method of voting was the need for some kind of co-operation between the parties at local level. This need not take the form of a formal coalition.

But the need for compromise is central to the system. In the SNP budgets at Holyrood level between 2007 and 2011 when there was a minority administration, agreements had to be made with Conservatives on a whole range of matters. They included a council tax freeze, police numbers, assistance for small businesses, business rating, town centre management and the control of public expenditure.

It is not difficult to see that similar agreements could be made at local level in the event of a prevalence of “hung” councils throughout the land after May’s poll. In the end, the parties need to be big enough to accept what the voters are telling them through their ballots. The public are more likely to be impressed by a mature