A political row erupted over how a Clydebank-based charity should be paid funding to help keep it afloat, with councillors being accused of resorting to "childish" jibes. 

The ruling Labour administration and the SNP disagreed about how to pay £3,125 to The Big Disability Group to address a funding gap during a meeting of the full council last Wednesday. 

Councillor Sophie Traynor, of the SNP, raised the emergency motion calling on the funds to be issued but Labour councillor Clare Steel issued an amendment pushing the decision to the new Cost of Living working group in charge of the recently launched Cost of Living Fund.

This led to claims that Labour was trying to "gazump" the opposition but members insisted they were taking the best course of action so that the money could be issued quickly. 

Community Party’s Jim Bollan said: “I think there is a wee bit of gazumping going on here. This council has the authority to approve the £3,000 and pay the group tomorrow.”

However, Councillor Danny Lennie rejected this, stating the amendment grants everything the motion was asking for.

He added: “This is not being political. This is expediating the money that is required to keep the group open.”

Councillor Iain Dickson, of the SNP, then asked the legal officer if he could make an addendum to the original motion using the exact wording of Labour’s amendment.

Councillor David McBride, of Labour, said: “I wasn’t intending to get involved but I am really quite shocked at what is going on here.

“The mover of the motion, very helpfully, has come with the request for the organisation that is doing a lot of good.

“And the funding required for this is £3,125 and council asks officers to look at funding options for this.

“You’ve not come in here with a motion saying tonight we will agree on this.

“You’re all over the place, our amendment, which identifies the funding opportunities, it gives a solution on where it will come from, is such a bad thing that we have the SNP jumping up and down about it.

“With the exception of Councillor Dickson, who thinks it’s that good, that he wants to include our amendment in the original motion.”

Cllr McBride then added that the chamber didn’t need the SNP "histrionics" before ending by saying: “Sorry councillor Dickson, I like people to be able to hear me unlike yourself, couldn’t hear you behind a bus ticket.”

Cllr Dickson then asked the Provost, who was chairing the meeting, to condemn what he called "that disgraceful behaviour", adding: “Personal jibes is childish.”

Provost Douglas McAllister, of Labour, said he was not "calling out any behaviour".

Labour’s amendment passed with 11 votes to 10, with Cllr Bollan siding with the SNP’s original motion.

After the meeting, Cllr Traynor took to Twitter to outline her dismay at the way her motion had been dealt with, saying: “Sadly this motion did not pass. Instead the Labour administration have delayed the decision by passing it to the cost of living working group so that they can get political capital and ultimately, delayed the funding from being distributed.”