COMMONS PLAYS CONFUSED CATCH UP ON COUNCIL TAX FREEZE

COMMONS PLAYS CONFUSED CATCH UP ON COUNCIL TAX FREEZE

SNP SHOWS THE WAY BY PUTTING MONEY IN PEOPLE'S POCKETS IN HARD TIMES

As the House of Commons today (Tuesday) debates calls for the UK Government to follow the Scottish Government by introducing a council tax freeze in England, Labour and the LibDems showed themselves to be in a confused position whilst the Tories played catch up by seeing sense in putting more money back in people's pockets in difficult economic times.

A Tory opposition day motion calls on the UK government to “fund councils in delivering a council tax freeze in England; as is already in operation in Scotland”. Labour say they oppose the motion despite the fact that, in London, all eight Labour-run local authorities are set to freeze council tax next year.

And the Liberal Democrats are also in a state of chaos with councillors in England pressing for local authorities to freeze council tax – whilst their Scottish counterparts are calling for council tax hikes.

SNP Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP said:

“They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in this case it is Labour hypocrisy, Conservative catch up and LibDem confusion. The SNP Government in Scotland has been leading the way on a council tax freeze and has shown how it can be done in difficult economic times. In such times it is important to put more money back in ordinary people's pockets which also helps the economy.

“But Labour’s double standards know no bounds. It shows utter confusion to oppose a council tax freeze whilst their local authorities in London plan to introduce it an attempt to avoid electoral wipe-out.

“This debate shows how the SNP Government has put Scotland ahead of the rest of the UK in tackling the economic downturn by acting quickly to bring forward measures to give businesses and households a helping hand.

“With more powers, we could do so much more. The current downturn underlines the urgent need for Scotland to be given the full economic powers of an independent nation.”