Lib Dem leader calls on SNP for help to dump council tax

Published on Saturday 1 March 2008 10:19

LIBERAL Democrat leader Nicol Stephen today called on the SNP government to work with him to dump the council tax.

The Lib Dems are the only other major party at Holyrood that supports introducing a local income tax and their support would be crucial to getting it approved by the Scottish Parliament.

But Mr Steven says his party has so far had no approach from ministers. He challenged Alex Salmond: "If you seriously want to do this, pick up the phone."

Mr Salmond has said the government would publish a consultation paper on local income tax "very soon".

Supporters of a local income tax claim it would leave the majority of Scots better off, but opponents say many couples where both partners are working would end up paying more.

The SNP and Liberal Democrats differ on how the tax would work. The SNP wants the tax level set centrally and has calculated it would be around 3p extra across the country. The Lib Dems say each local authority should be left to set its own tax level.

But a Lib Dem source said the differences were "not necessarily insurmountable". Mr Steven was also using his speech at the Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference in Aviemore to announce that he is recalling the Steel Commission – the party's internal review on more powers for Holyrood – following the "confusion" created over the issue by Gordon Brown.

Mr Brown first appeared to undermine Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander's initiative to set up a cross-party Scottish Constitutional Commission to consider further devolution by wanting it to be downgraded to a "review" or a "working group".

Then he backed more power for Holyrood but said other powers could be taken back by Westminster. Mr Steven was due to tell delegates at Aviemore: "Gordon Brown rambling about removing powers does not help. This new challenge needs leadership and direction, not distraction."

The commission has already agreed Holyrood should have more tax powers, but now Sir David and his colleagues will be asked to come up with more definite proposals about exactly which taxes should be transferred to the Scottish Parliament.

Meanwhile, former Edinburgh councillor Sue Tritton complained controversial motions had been kept off the agenda. One which she and others had put forward, urging a rethink on the party's outright opposition to nuclear power had not been selected for discussion.

She said: "We were told it was not being allowed because the issue had been debated within the last two years – but a lot has changed in the last two years."

A party spokesman said the issues debated were all on areas where the party needed to develop its policy.