As I observe the drubbing Aberdeen Labour are getting over their decision to cancel the controversial reconstruction of the Union Terrace Gardens, which would see the Gardens being replaced by the futuristic “Granite Web” costing 140 million pounds, I am forcibly reminded of one of my favourite books from early childhood.

Remember the Magic Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton? There are three normal children: Jo, Bessie and Fanny as well three peculiar characters, Silky, Moonface and Saucepan Man. In each book they drop in for tea with Moonface then climb the tree to a new “land” at the top: the Land of Dreams, the Land of Do-as-you-please, the Land of Magic Medicines, the Land of Presents, the Land of Tempers and so on. Each of these “lands” would have some new and fantastic oddity to be explored.

While it is of course true that you could apply all of the above to the mindset of most modern politicians, one in particular seems to be of interest in this case. Behold the Land of Topsy Turvy, where everything is upside down and the exact opposite of what you’d expect.

So let’s get this straight. LABOUR are the ones to tear down a public project for the crime of profligacy? Now this really is peculiar.

In an age when the so-called Left are into nation building in the Middle East and maintaining nuclear deterrents, while Cameron’s so-called Right are the new vanguards of free love and state control of the banking sector, something seems to have gone slightly amiss.

Now don’t get me wrong, I agree with Labour that the Union Terrace Gardens project is a huge waste of time and money, not to mention that the plans put in place would be an eyesore for the city of Aberdeen. The Scottish Tories, who incidentally are led by a lesbian in her late twenties, have said that Labour’s decision is ignoring a public mandate (the Yes side won by a small margin) and that the expense will be covered by private funds anyway, so what’s all the fuss about?

Let’s take a closer look at both of these propositions. First of all, the so-called “mandate”. 45,301 Aberdonians voted in favour, while 41,175 voted against. Hardly a landslide. Considering that the total population of Aberdeen is about 212,000, if you subtract about 30,000 underage residents, you are left with an electorate of 182,000 residents. In other words, the heavily manufactured consent of 24% of the population was to be imposed upon the whole.

Now let us look closer at the idea that it is privately funded. Billionaire tycoon Ian Wood was set to inject 85 million into the project, while the state was to provide the rest of the funding. As a rule numbers tend to lose all sense of meaning the further away from the individual pocket one zooms, but that is still a lot of money. And have you ever heard of a public project that didn’t go over-budget and over-schedule? Think about it: from Eurotunnel to the Olympics, exceptions to this law of Government interference are conspicuously absent. And it will not be Mr Wood who will be forced to pay the price.

But what this decision proves, furthermore, is the failure of mainstream political parties to have any coherent vision or principle, beyond reactionary appeasement of special interest groups. To be perfectly frank, most political parties in Scotland and abroad are nothing more than multiple cheeks of the same arse. They all subscribe to the same toxic recipe of authoritarianism, bureaucracy, redistribution and incompetence: except Scottish Libertarians.

Scottish Libertarians are a party of principle, supporting individual liberty, autonomy and free enterprise for the people of Scotland. We want to keep government out of your life. We would much rather see money go the pockets of individual citizens and families to spend on the goods and services they need, instead of sapping them on wasteful public projects. If you want consistency, principled policy and freedom, I strongly invite you to step out of the mould and send a message to mainstream politicians. Climb out of the Magic Faraway Tree and grow up!