Scotland's biggest U-turn?

Ditching the council tax in favour of a local income tax swung the Scottish Parliamentary elections

By Andy Kerr Published 13 February 2009

As the SNP went into the Scottish election in 2007 they thought they were onto a winner with their call to abolish Council Tax and replace it with a ‘Local Income Tax’(LIT).

The result was tight with the SNP gaining one more seat than Labour, but it has been widely acknowledge this totemic policy swung the election.

Less than two years later and the totem pole has been cut down by SNP leader Alex Salmond and his Finance Secretary John Swinney.

The Scottish media hailed it as the most humiliating U-turn since devolution began and not just a broken promise but a massive breach of trust with the electorate. If the nationalists will not bring forward LIT, what will they deliver on?

The SNP had faced calls to scrap the policy for the last year not just from Labour but the unlikely bedfellows of the STUC and CBI Scotland. Never before in Scottish history had two disparate sides like these two been drawn together to campaign against a government policy. Local Income Tax was not just bad for the working people but bad for business too and the SNP were fooling no-one.

There were other issues with the policy – it was not actually local as the rate was to be nationally set. The Liberal Democrats wanted to have 32 different rates that would have caused the biggest bureaucratic nightmare in local government history but in the end the decision was taken by Alex Salmond to abandon his ‘election winning’ policy and try to play the blame game.

The problem for the SNP is this is not the first time that key policy promises have been jettisoned when they found them difficult to deliver. The nationalists have let down students across Scotland breaking their promise to scrap student debt. The SNP also promised parents class sizes of 18 or less but have instead presided over larger classroom numbers, record number of teachers on the dole and not one new school commissioned by the SNP.

The significance of the U-turn on the abolition of council tax this week is being felt across Scotland not just because it was their most important policy objective but because it adds to a litany of other failed promises. But what’s next?

Along with the establishment of the Local Income Tax the other main plank of nationalist economic policy was the scrapping of Public Private Partnerships to fund schools, hospitals and major public works. The SNP heralded their Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) as the ‘not-for-profit’ way of delivering for Scotland. But just like the Local Income Tax the reality does not match the rhetoric. The SFT has so far become one of the most expensive Quangos in Scotland – over £17 million spent so far and nothing to show for it at all. People in Scotland look at the Local Income Tax and the Scottish Futures Trust and can see the clear parallels – policies that are not working and were designed with headlines in mind rather than parents, pupils, the travelling public and tax payers.

The ditching of Local Income Tax will prove to be the moment when Alex Salmond was finally exposed as incompetent and untrustworthy. Thundering from the dispatch box and turning up to photo-opportunities does not make for an adequate leader and certainly not a First Minister of Scotland. Delivering on your promises and putting Scotland first are the first requirements.

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6 comments

Fri, 2009-02-13 16:16 — JohnMcDonald

I am sorry but this article is a joke. It is a simple and none to disguised rant from a Labour MSP who is often the butt of Alex Salmond's quick-witted put-downs.

What is it with Labour that the quality of their leading MSPs is so poor?

Fri, 2009-02-13 17:13 — George Laird

Dear All

Andy Kerr of the Labour Party displays bitterness that the SNP won last May Scottish Holyrood election. The reason for Labour lost was that people were sick to death of Labour lies.

“As the SNP went into the Scottish election in 2007 they thought they were onto a winner with their call to abolish Council Tax and replace it with a ‘Local Income Tax’(LIT)”.

Clearly, they were, since the Scottish people warmed to the concept of fairness that the SNP wanted to bring to everyone in Scotland and not just the select few who benefit under Labour.

“The result was tight with the SNP gaining one more seat than Labour, but it has been widely acknowledge this totemic policy swung the election”.

What swung the election was the SNP were seen as a party that was positive while London Labour used a negative campaign against the SNP, which backfired.

“Less than two years later and the totem pole has been cut down by SNP leader Alex Salmond and his Finance Secretary John Swinney”.

Only temporary, the reality of a minority Government means the SNP cannot guarantee getting the votes required.

“The Scottish media hailed it as the most humiliating U-turn since devolution began and not just a broken promise but a massive breach of trust with the electorate”.

For those who monitor the Scottish media, it is generally acknowledged that the “Scottish” media ran a disgraceful anti SNP campaign on behalf of the Labour Party, this unfairness helped to swing the election for the SNP.

“If the nationalists will not bring forward LIT, what will they deliver on?”

What about saving the A & E departments that Andy Kerr wanted to close for starters?

“The SNP had faced calls to scrap the policy for the last year not just from Labour but the unlikely bedfellows of the STUC and CBI Scotland”.

Both Labour front organisations.

Fri, 2009-02-13 17:14 — George Laird

“Never before in Scottish history had two disparate sides like these two been drawn together to campaign against a government policy. Local Income Tax was not just bad for the working people but bad for business too and the SNP were fooling no-one”.

Talk about clutching at straws, the people want a fair tax system which Labour isn’t happy to deliver, they want to keep the burden of tax on the poorest in society.

“There were other issues with the policy – it was not actually local as the rate was to be nationally set. The Liberal Democrats wanted to have 32 different rates that would have caused the biggest bureaucratic nightmare in local government history but in the end the decision was taken by Alex Salmond to abandon his ‘election winning’ policy and try to play the blame game”.

Given that the policy was to be rolled out in Scotland and not the rest of Britain, it was in effect local; Kerr is actually playing with words.

“The problem for the SNP is this is not the first time that key policy promises have been jettisoned when they found them difficult to deliver”.

You cannot deliver promises unless other parties in a minority agree.

“The nationalists have let down students across Scotland breaking their promise to scrap student debt. The SNP also promised parents class sizes of 18 or less but have instead presided over larger classroom numbers, record number of teachers on the dole and not one new school commissioned by the SNP”.

What Kerr misses out is that the UK Labour Government deliberately cut the Scottish budget to ensure that the SNP couldn’t deliver on some promises.

“The significance of the U-turn on the abolition of council tax this week is being felt across Scotland not just because it was their most important policy objective but because it adds to a litany of other failed promises. But what’s next?”

Fri, 2009-02-13 17:15 — George Laird

Is it not funny that Kerr criticises the SNP for wanting to keep policies when his party has turned major parts of Scotland into slums, destroyed communities and denied people opportunities. Is Kerr seriously asking people to return to Labour’s “success”?

“Along with the establishment of the Local Income Tax the other main plank of nationalist economic policy was the scrapping of Public Private Partnerships to fund schools, hospitals and major public works. The SNP heralded their Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) as the ‘not-for-profit’ way of delivering for Scotland. But just like the Local Income Tax the reality does not match the rhetoric. The SFT has so far become one of the most expensive Quangos in Scotland – over £17 million spent so far and nothing to show for it at all”.

Is Andy Kerr seriously suggesting that the agency starts work before finalising procedures and training personnel properly? What kind of gross incompetence would that be? The only reason that all parties are looking to change the Council Tax problem is because of the clear lead given by Alex Salmond and the SNP.

“People in Scotland look at the Local Income Tax and the Scottish Futures Trust and can see the clear parallels – policies that are not working and were designed with headlines in mind rather than parents, pupils, the travelling public and tax payers”.

This sentence is clearly nonsense from a man who is bitter that the Scottish people rejected them at the ballot box. If you take the time, you will notice that Labour is copying SNP policies, Paul Martin (instantly forgettable) MSP for Springb urn is bring in a private bill to scrap car park charges in PFI Hospitals, copying what the SNP have already did.

“The ditching of Local Income Tax will prove to be the moment when Alex Salmond was finally exposed as incompetent and untrustworthy”.

Fri, 2009-02-13 17:15 — George Laird

This statement shows how angry and bitter Kerr, a failed candidate for the Labour Leadership of the Labour MSP group is, Alex Salmond is neither incompetent or untrustworthy, truly a disgraceful piece of writing.

“Thundering from the dispatch box and turning up to photo-opportunities does not make for an adequate leader and certainly not a First Minister of Scotland. Delivering on your promises and putting Scotland first are the first requirements”.

Well rest assured Andy Kerr will never lead Scotland. When standing for leader; he couldn’t even command enough votes to beat Cathy Jamieson,; he was third. Being third in the vote; he was eliminated and failed to get into the second round.

What does it say that he couldn’t get enough votes to beat Cathy Jamieson who was involved in one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Scottish legal history? A woman who Jonathan Watson, a comic sent up as unbelievably incompetent.

Finally, Kerr may crow on here with some glee that the SNP haven’t managed at present to sort out the unfair council tax that Labour still haven’t brought forward proper proposals but at least the will is there to help.

LIT will be introduced by an SNP Government in Scotland because public service and fairness is very much at the heart of the SNP. The job of the SNP isn’t just independence, it is also about a fair and just society.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University