What is Iain Gray up to now? He's claiming that the current council tax freeze - which has saved the average householder £200 - is 'unsustainable' and he wants local authorities to be able to hike bills to maintain frontline services.
Although the SNP discarded their Local Income Tax plans in 2009, John Swinney has ensured the council tax freeze has continued for the past 3 years and hopes it will for 2011.
Iain Gray professes: " Many people feel continuing the freeze at the expense of education services is not a price worth paying". Where are these people Mr Gray? Roll them out, let's have a look at who they are.
Is this Iain Gray's attempt to publicise the fact that Labour now have a working group looking at council tax which he expects to back some form of property-based tax or is it an attempt by Labour to discover just how stupid their supporters really are?
Nobody, if given a choice, would vote for an increase in taxes. Scottish labour don't quite understand that.
Mr Gray ought to be spending more time sorting out the labour councillors at South Lanarkshire Council. They want rid of senior staff and don't seem to have read their own rule book.
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If education is so important (to him), why hasn't he the balls to cut 'less-important' services even more, to maintain funds to education?
Normal people "cut their coat according to their cloth"; politicians just want to spend other people's money.
Elmer must be the worst leader of Liebour in Scotland since the last one. And the one before that.
Mind you don't the SNP think that we all want higher taxes on alcohol ?
And higher fuel bills to pay for windmills ?
And higher bills for newsagents to hide their cigarettes under the counter ?
And did you see Hosies letter about the biomass smokestack proposed for Dundee. No doubting where the SNP are on that affair. In the letter he actually says we need to trust the climate scientists. Obviously he has missed the IPCC farce and the climategate e mails etc.
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/Opinion/Readers-letters/article/5961/october-5-leave-judgment-on-biomass-plant-to-experts.html
Exactly Joe. There are so many wee 'jobs for the boys' setups in the west that I'm sure a few million could be saved without any problem.
Thanks for the link to that letter RM. I missed that one.
Aye he is yet the SNP just can't seem to capitalise on it. The list you give explains why. They're concentrating on issues which involve more expense for the public, whereas labour are good at the handout scenarios.
As for Hosie. He really ought to get a grip. How dare he suggest that local people haven't bothered to gain enough knowledge to have a say on this biomass issue. That's not the way to treat Dundonians as you and me know. Who are these 'experts' he speaks about? Possibly the industries' spokesmen.
As bigger cuts/savings are coming - so-called Child-Benefit was just a starter for ten - is Lady Elmer Bountiful and the Fuddites showing us how they might shower us with cash instead, as a hollow tempter for May?
Knowing just how fast and loose so many local councils play with our money on frivolous junkets and 'initiatives' etc. - I'm delighted the on-going freeze may make them think a little more circumspectly about our cash.
Judging by your header photo - somebody appears to have forgotten to remove the clockwork wind-up key from Elmers neck as he is still talking nonsense.
Clarinda..
I noticed that thing in Elmers neck aswell and thought it might have been a poisoned dart fired from Lord Jack O' Malawis blowpipe.
SR...
I expect Mr Hosie and Shona will do a flit from the Ferry once the smoke starts belching ( assisted by the two seagull mincing windmills getting built nearby.)
Their £1m in wages every 5 years will get them a nice villa in Madeira or somewhere for their retirement.
Typical mouth musak from the comrade people's partei. What it in effect means that we'll be paying more and receiving less as per usual if they have their wicked way.Spivs on the make are folk like Fudd. In order to keep them in a manner they have become accustomed to. Despite their fall from power ...and grace, while other folk suffer from the effects of their mal administration. No apologies, no sack cloth and ashes from the likes of Fudd and co then for the mess them and their administrations were instrumentally responsible for.
...and Fudd imforms us that we must give more for less.
Aye, jist another form of quantative easing which Fudd and new Labour will become infamous for in the history books, well the ones new Labour haven't the opportunity to rewrite anyways.
The words," nero fiddles while Rome burns" spring to mind when thoose baw jawing baw bags open their gobs and spew forth self interest platitudes of we must do whatever. Gies peace.
Hopefully Gray will show how inadequate he is before next May's poll.
On climate change, my view is trust the guys who've done the research. Unless you've done the work you can't argue with someone who has spend decades studying a subject!
Tax and waste - all labour are or were ever good at
This will be Grey trying to re-start the bandwagon that was gathering speed in August, with Municipalist Labour dominated COSLA and Glasgow City Council actively campaigining for this measure after it appeared in the Independent Budget Report.
Yes many people can pinpoint cases of council largesse. However since Grey specifically mentions Education, can Grey condemn the PFI/PPP funding mechanism which sees an estimated £800 million dissapear from Education budgets up and down the country (NB: This figure is an estimate for this year, courtesy of the Independent Budget Report - this figure is normally hidden as "off balance sheet"). It's the effective second mortgage on our schools which has blown a hole in local authorities, more so than the largesse of our councilors.
http://humbug3.blogspot.com/2010/08/case-for-council-tax-freeze.html
He wants the CT increase so as he can bail out South Lanarkshire and other councils Clarinda.
Good for you noticing that! I was going to make a quip but thought 'no someone else will'. :)
Gies peace right enough wisnaeme. Cameron too should gie us peace too. Dreadful knocking of our government today.
I've read all sides of the CC debate Strathturret and I'm certainly not convinced by the pro-lobby.
All they ever will be good at Dram.
Now that's a good one to push in the campaign Allan. Remind me to do something nearer the time. Good link btw, I've read it before. :)
Gray's calculation presumably is that many or most of his client vote don't visibly pay the tax, so they WILL vote for an increase.
Bring back the property qualification for voting!
Who was it said that democracy can only survive until people realise they can vote themselves largesse from the public purse?
Oh yes, it was Alexis De Tocqueville; or maybe PJ O’Rourke; or possibly Alexander Tytler (who he?)
Who he indeed Weekend Yachtsman. :)
That's what I thought. Most of his labour voters won't pay CT so he's nothing to lose.
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