AN MSP has defended an attack she launched on councils as she came under further criticism from a senior figure within her own party for her comments.
Joan McAlpine insisted that some local authorities are "failing their communities" and singled out the Labour-run Dumfries and Galloway and West Dunbartonshire Councils for criticism, claiming the SNP's main opposition want to "empower their council cronies".
The Nationalist MSP, who served as an aide to Alex Salmond when he was First Minister, sparked outrage after saying in her weekly newspaper column this week that those who supported decentralisation of power from Edinburgh wanted to "bring down" Holyrood.
She also accused non-SNP parties in local government of "empire building" and said they wanted to "channel money back to their cronies".
The comments were condemned by COSLA, which represents Scotland's councils, and opposition parties across the political spectrum.
Calum Cashley, an approved SNP Westminster candidate and former head of media at campaign group Business for Scotland, said her comments showed "a politician out of touch, arrogant and unthinking".
In a blog for Holyrood Magazine, he added: "Her lack of respect for Scotland's councils, the institutions that the SNP Government relies on to deliver an enormous chunk of Scotland's front-line services, stands in stark contrast to the regard in which those councils are held by Ministers and Cabinet Secretaries in the Scottish Government."
Mr Cashley, a former aide to SNP MEP Alyn Smith, rejected Ms McAlpine's claim that other parties supported devolution of powers to councils so they could channel funds to their "cronies".
He wrote: "Using a newspaper column to sneer at local authorities in an attempt to score points against your parliamentary opponents is bad enough; to get it so wrong in the process marks you down as not quite being switched on.
"Perhaps Ms McAlpine's time would have been better spent explaining her vision of the future of local government? She could start with how to ensure parity of esteem between councillors and MSPs."
However, Ms McAlpine stuck by her column, pointing out that she had also praised the hard work of some council employees and local politicians.
She branded the Liberal Democrats "dozy" for referring to her as currently being an aide to Alex Salmond in a press release, and attacked Labour for voting "for continued austerity at Westminster".
She added: "No wonder the SNP are miles ahead in the polls!" but made no reference to her claim that those who backed transferring power to local authorities were motivated by a desire to topple the Scottish Parliament.
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