Council Tax freeze will save us money, but at what cost to services?

MY annual Council Tax bill has just arrived. I have mixed feelings over its contents. The freeze will save me some money but at what cost to local public services? The charges for the services of Scottish Water, regardless of my usage, have increased by 8.8%. A single person pays only 25% less than a neighbouring family with three wage-earners.

As is usual with this type of announcement, it is accompanied by completely unsubstantiated claims of a very large number of new jobs which will be created as if by magic. Perhaps, in a very selfish moment, I should contact my MSP and demand that my home should be included in a green freeport and that the legislation should be altered to ensure I pay no Council Tax, no income tax, no VAT – in fact no tax at all for the next 10 years! I promise this would help me stimulate the localconference giving its blessing to green freeports. A search of the SNP’s extensive policy database on its website comes back with the stark message – no results.

We carried only two placards – “Black Lives Matter” and “Restore our Voting Rights” . I have rarely walked in such a positive and united group of around 70, all focusing on civil rights in America. Charles, at the same time as appointing Prince Edward, also appointed to the order Professor Sue Black, Baroness Helena Kennedy and Sir Geoff Palmer, all esteemed figures in Scottish life whom I’m sure would be generally considered worthy of this esteemed honour. But I would wonder what percentage of the Scottish population would consider all of these members of the royal family to be worthy of the “highest honour in Scotland”.

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