Labour’s candidate to run Glasgow council has demanded more “clarity” from his Scottish party on plans for a national care service.
Malcolm Cunning said he wanted a “clearer definition” of what the change would mean for local government.
He also claimed to have had vociferous arguments with party leader Anas Sarwar on “issues where we disagree” and denied he would be a puppet as local authority leader.
Cunning is vying to replace SNP councillor Susan Aitken as leader of Scotland’s biggest city after Labour lost power to the Nationalists in 2017.
A key issue for Labour is Aitken’s record as leader, with Sarwar dismissing her administration as a “branch office” of the SNP.
In an interview with the Record, Cunning was asked whether he would be Sarwar’s puppet if he became leader.
“No, absolutely not. No way,” he said.
He added: “I'm almost certainly not going to go on public platforms and criticise Anas because that's not what you do to comrades.
“But I will have vociferous arguments with Anas about issues where I think what is needed for Glasgow is perhaps different from what is being said.”
Asked if he’d had vociferous arguments with him since he became leader, he said: "Yes.”
Asked on what, he said: "Issues where we disagree."
Asked to name a single policy issue on which he and Sarwar disagree, he said: "I would rather not."
Cunning then changed his mind and mentioned differences on the national care service, which critics believe could take powers away from councils.
He said: “I would like more clarity from the Labour Party in terms of our position on the national care service, let's say.”
He said he wanted a “clearer definition” and said of the work deputy leader Jackie Baillie is carrying out on the policy adding:
“I implicitly trust what Jackie is doing, but I just would like a bit more clarity of that balance between national standards and local delivery.
“That's the sort of area where I will be standing up for the powers and the role of local government. And I think that's perfectly legitimate. And I think it's perfectly legitimate for Anas and Jackie, and the parliamentary team, to be putting together a policy that makes sense more widely for Scotland.
“And it's perfectly legitimate for me to say 'I've got concerns about this. I've got concerns about that’.”
He added: “I think the message could do with slightly more clarity, but I think we're fairly early in the process and I'm reasonably confident that we'll get there.”
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