Council Tax and the SNP

The SNP are a nice bunch. They want rid of the Council Tax and want to get Scotland Independent. They want wars to end and everyone to be nice, non-racist and groovy. It's like we put Karen Carpenter into power.

But there's something not quite right. Something they haven't answered. I've asked on discussion boards and never received a reply from pro-indy activists. I've asked on boards where some people claim to like me. I've asked on boards where it's rats nest. And still... no reply.

And no-one answered me. No-one even tried. Any time I brought it up, it was like... nothing.

My query is relatively simple. And I decided to ask Nicola Sturgeon since she was deputy Prime Minister (or Deputy First thingy) and also because I quite like her Bay City Rollers haircut.

I'd post you the letter I sent, but it's on my work's computer and I'm here... you can figure it out.

I asked, simply, this: I like your idea for scrapping the Council Tax. But I want to know what happens when you transfer the jobs from the Local Authority to the Inland Revenue. Do the staff members at the local authority get fired?

Before you start thinking about your own position, consider a few things I know before you jump to any conclusions. Firstly, there's over 4000 people employed across Scotland in Council Tax. Unlike some Trade Unions, Unison (which I'm a Steward for) doesn't mind striking. We've struck for pensions, pay, conditions and a whole myriad of issues. (er... there are a few bad bits, but lets gloss over them as "irrelevant" for now...)

Next, lets time travel back to a few years ago to Carolyn Leckie at an SSP Cumbernauld public meeting about the Council Tax. An old couple asked her a variant of my question. Carolyn replied: "Well... the Council can employ them elsewhere." Don't be fooled by Carolyn's reputation, that reply was dumber than you'd get from a page three girl. To "employ" them elsewhere you either have to create jobs for them where the skills they have match the skills they are going into (but we already know the jobs are going to the Inland Revenue and so that's out the windae). Alternatively, you can redeploy them to other parts of the Council. 4000 people. You see the problem?

The problem is in paragraph 3 or Raymonds reply. The SNP don't know what they're going to do with 4000 people willing to strike and take the shine off their sexy "Scrap the Council Tax" policy. This is an achilles heel of the policy and... I'm disappointed in the Government for that.

You could go for sour grapes and go: "Och well, they're all tax collectors and probably deserve it." Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong. It doesn't matter. The point is that with a unionist press and lots of striking people the SNP will get a battering in the polls. If they'd thought this out, this wouldn't be a problem.

The obvious answer is to simply transfer the lot: lock, stock and watercoolers to the Inland Revenue (or whatever Scottish Version Eck and Gnasher have up their sleeves. But consider this: I pay £8 per month subs to Unison (the general fund, not the New Labour fund). Since a different trade union exists in the Inland Revenue, do you honestly think Unison is going to ignore the loss of £32,000.00 per month in subs to the PCS (who represent Civil Servants in the Inland Revenue) without striking about it? At the very least Labour is going to exploit it, and for me, the SNP haven't thought up an argument against it.

I want a fairer tax for the people, but I don't want that done by resorting to Thatcherite mass sackings in doing so. I want the Scottish Government to prove it has the mettle and (ignoring my atheism for a moment) the Wisdom of Solomon to solve a problem before it comes up. And I'm not confident they've done so.