Labour hand election battle to Rowley
public services. Speaking at the Scottish Labour Councillors’ Conference in Stirling, he said the SNP’s failure to abolish the council tax or stop the cuts means they have broken their promises to the Scottish people.
He said : “Labour w i l l campaign on a platform to scrap the council tax and invest in public services.
“As the campaign manager, I look forward to taking our message to the people of Scotland, setting out our positive v ision for giving everybody a fair chance in life.
“Under the SNP, £500million has been cut from local council budgets. This has a direct impact on vital local services, like schools and social care. Only by investing in our local public services can we give people the skills they need to get on.
“Labour wi l l abolish the council tax and replace it with a fairer system that ensure the richest few pay their fair share.
“The election in May is about who is best to stand up for local communities.
“The SNP want to drag us back to the arguments of the past.”
An SNP spokeswoman said: “Alex Rowley seems to have forgotten that under Labour, council tax soared by 60 per cent.
“It is the SNP who have protected families on the lowest incomes, and who are reforming the council tax to make it fairer.
“Meanwhile, Labour continue to run scared of the Tories and have lost the trust of communities up and down Scotland.
“We’re looking forward to next year’s council elections where we will outline a positive vision of empowering communities, standing up against austerity and delivering a fairer Scotland.”
The Scottish Conservatives said: “We accept the need to end the council tax freeze, but we will oppose Labour and SNP plans to force homeowners to pay excessive increases in their bills.”