Glasgow education committee is definitely not Strathclyde education committee. There is no Tommy Farrell in the chair and no Frank Pignatelli as director for Chris Mason, the Liberal Democrat one-person opposition, to sink his teeth into.
Mason was the voice of reasoned debate at last week’s committee, refusing to make his normal gibes at the top table. Perhaps he and chairman Malcolm Green - university backgrounds both - are too alike for much of the usual cross-party banter.
It was left to Govan councillor Deirdre Gaughan to sound a discordant note. She had not received her papers in time. “It’s normally me that does the complaining,” complained Mason.
Gaughan, Jotter readers will recall, is the champion of St Gerard’s Secondary and as a parent leader defeated Strathclyde Region in the Court of Session after the council tried to close the two-thirds empty secondary. Her campaign prompted the Government to amend its opting-out legislation to prevent a series of rolling ballots.
Now an indefatigable Labour councillor, she is on the inside as St Gerard’s is again on the hit list. Combined with her involvement in the Mike Watson versus Mohammad Sarwar battle for the Govan constituency nomination (she backs Sarwar), it promises to be a challenging time ahead.
