Coalsnaughton is the perfect chance for both governments to be serious about working together

It is a truly horrifying situation to be in - around 100 families in the former mining village of Coalsnaughton have been evacuated from their homes due to unprecedented ground movement.

The affected houses are moving at a rate of up to 20 millimetres every single day, and images show pavements and driveways being pushed up by the subsidence.

Investigations into exactly what is happening are set to take another eight weeks, but it looks increasingly uncertain when, if ever, the families will be able to return to their homes.

One of the streets inside the cordon in Coalsnaughton. | John Devlin/Scotland on Sunday

Both First Minister John Swinney and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are aware of their plight. It was raised at PMQs in the House of Commons on Wednesday, and Mr Swinney went to visit the Clackmannanshire village on Friday to see the damage for himself.

The Scottish Government has written to the UK Government to make sure they are on top of this. The Prime Minister has also said on record that his people are in touch with the Scottish Government too.

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This is a uniquely perfect example of a situation where both governments really need to work together. It involves the Mining Remediation Authority, a UK Government body. Those displaced need to rely on housing, which is devolved in Scotland.

The situation in the village is dire, with those who have chosen to remain behind wracked with crippling uncertainty. All of those affected are worried about not just their belongings, but the money they have invested into these properties too.

Evidence of ground movement in Coalsnaughton | Mining Remediation Authority

When Mr Swinney first became First Minister two years ago, he said he wanted to work across party politics to get things done for the people of Scotland.

When the Labour government was elected just weeks later, they said they wanted to reset the relationship between London and Edinburgh.

While great intentions were laid bare, this really has not played out in reality. You just need to look at the row over who was responsible for removing US whisky tariffs to see they are still very much at each other’s throats.

The feud between the former Conservative UK Government and the SNP is well documented, but during the Holyrood election campaign Mr Swinney said the relationship has once again broken down. He told journalists there is an “underlying tone” to all of the intergovernmental discussions that can be traced back to Douglas Alexander’s appointment as Scottish secretary.

An aerial view of the former mining village of Coalsnaughton | John Devlin/Scotland on Sunday

He then said the relationship is now almost as bad as it was under the Conservatives.

The poor folk of Coalsnaughton do not give two hoots about the friendship (or lack thereof) between the two governments. They just want a speedy resolution to the awful situation they have been left in.

I spoke to some residents earlier in the week who are also sceptical about the local authority’s ability to help them, whether that is from years of distrust or a perceived lack of resources. That is even more reason why the two governments need to work together on this.

Coalsnaughton probably feels a million miles away to the big-wigs in Westminster. It probably even feels distant to those in Holyrood. Yet this is a situation where hundreds of people have been forced out of their homes with little warning through no fault of their own. This could be both governments’ chance to really show if they were serious about wanting to put their differences aside for the common good.