Answer: when the term is used by Nationalists. The Scottish Nationalist government is even more centrist than Labour.
Step 1 of central control: every local council in Scotland was "persuaded" not to increase council tax last April. This had an impact on education budgets across Scotland, and in places like Highland have particularly affected rural schools. This makes nonsense of their proposed Rural Schools Bill.
Step 2: introduce an extension to income tax to replace council tax (one cheer from us), but fix the rate centrally, thus denying local authorities the power to set it according to their individual needs. Call it "Local" Income Tax, in the hope of attracting naive Liberal Democrat votes.
I would have thought that the advantages of having it based on income - outweigh the local/national argument?
ReplyDeleteBut it's only a short step from what the SNP propose to emasculating local government altogether.
ReplyDeleteSimon Jenkins puts the argument very well. The example of Denmark is illuminating.
ReplyDeleteNationalists are a strange lot; you can see that by the Nationalists we got in Wales.
ReplyDeleteStranged blinkered ideas, that will isolate Wales and Scotland from the rest of the UK.
Although I haven't been keeping an eye on the Scottish situation, Plaid Kowtow to Labour at every opportunity in the Bay. Look at Peter Black's LCO on Local Authority Elections - free vote most of Plaid voted against the opportunity of Wales having a choice on how LA elections are run in Wales - this is devolution in action, PLAID don't want it! What do they want?
[this is devolution in action, PLAID don't want it! What do they want?]
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, in my humble opinion, Plaid themselves don't know what they want so how would anybody else know?