East Lothian Labour
Speaking after today’s East Lothian Council meeting, which included consideration of the impact of the SNP Government’s plan to raise the top council tax bands and claw back the funds raised to be distributed centrally, Cllr Willie Innes said:
“This SNP council tax grab is bad news for East Lothian residents. It’s the latest example of the SNP’s obsession with central control at the expense of local democracy and decision-making.
“Local council taxpayers will have to pay around £3 million extra each year, all of which will be clawed back by SNP Ministers to be spent elsewhere. This flies in the face of local democracy and makes a mockery of local taxation.
“East Lothian Labour councillors are clear -; local tax raised in East Lothian should stay in East Lothian. We would invest all of the additional funds raised by the SNP’s tax changes in schools, social care and other services here in the county.”
Working with East Lothian Labour Party and Iain Gray MSP, the Labour Group on East Lothian Council has launched a campaign to stop the SNP’s council tax grab. Local Labour councillors want SNP Ministers to change their plans so that all of the additional local tax raised in East Lothian can be invested in local services.
For more information about the campaign and to follow its progress visit www.facebook.com/EastLothianLabourCouncillors