January is drawing to a close. If you’ve managed to stick with any resolutions to cut down on junk food, kudos. Me? I decided not to kid myself this year. I have a weakness for chocolate in all forms, especially when it’s dark for around 20 hours a day and grey for the remaining four. It’s something I seem to have in common with Scotland’s largest local authority. Their weakness? Biscuits.

Earlier this month it was reported that unelected senior officials at Glasgow City Council were in talks about accepting a secret private donation. They even signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) in a bid to keep this potential cash boost under wraps. The public and the press were kept from the discussions at the mystery organisation’s request. Democracy at its finest.

Now, the last time something like this happened was 2018. An anonymous donor gifted the council a Rolls Royce Ghost worth £235,000 to be used by the Lord Provost. At the time it was Eva Bolander (who was forced to resign after buying 23 pairs of shoes as part of a £8,000 spending spree funded by the taxpayer). The donation was branded “Dickensian” and sold off with proceeds going to charity. Finally in 2022 it was revealed that the car was gifted to the city by Sir Boyd Tunnock, the tycoon behind our beloved Tea Cakes and Caramel Logs.

There’s nothing like unelected officials signing NDAs over secret donations from mystery companies to raise a few eyebrows. A paper to councillors claimed this was fine because the donation fell under exempt information under Schedule 7A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act which includes (at paragraph 6) 'Information relating to the........

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