Highland Council Independent/SNP coalition - falling apart?

It seems like it may be! The trouble is that the proposed budget is apparently SNP-led, despite the SNP having far fewer councillors than the Independent grouping (no sooner do I write this article than the link has been redirected to a blank page - perhaps the content of the article was just too explosive for the SNP-gauleiters who call the shots in Highland Council!). In any case here's what the summary article in Bloglines said:

Highland budget row shows split in coalition "Deep divisions in the independent-SNP coalition leading Highland Council were laid bare last night as two of its members called for the alliance to be disbanded ahead of group crisis talks today. A number of independent councillors are furious ..."

I hate to say 'I told you so', but here's what I wrote it when the post-election coalition was formed - see also the slightly later post here. As for the need for certain of the Independents to 'grow a backbone', as suggested by one of the other more-outspoken Independents on the Council, as quoted in the now-vanished article, well I wrote about the good judgement of one of those Independent councillors (the Convener, actually) here. He was a good butcher (he was my local butcher before his elevation to the Convenorship); whether he is a good politician is now far less open to doubt, I'm sorry to say.