Comic one-liner

Sir, Just when we have become accustomed to the Tories as tragedy, up pops Councillor Billings with a comic one-liner which Groucho Marx would have been proud of: ‘The buck stops with my predecessors’! (Arran Banner July 1).

Well, no, it really doesn’t. We expect our elected representatives to do more than just complain about what other people are or are not doing.

Successive administrations at North Ayrshire Council – including the present Labour administration, put in power by Conservatives – have had to make hard decisions on budgeting. Very reasonably, they are asking communities to engage with the asset transfer model in respect of toilet facilities and swings.

We could, of course, pay more council tax. But I can’t recall Cllr Billings ever complaining about the nine years of council tax freeze – negotiated by the SNP government to reduce the tax burden on ordinary people.

There’s something unappealing about those who carp from the sidelines while quietly accepting all the benefits of the SNP government’s prudent management: the free prescriptions, abolition of university tuition fees and road bridge tolls, and free personal care for the elderly. Not to mention the massive investment and subsidy for Arran’s transport infrastructure.

There’s work to be done. I call on Cllr Billings to step up and be part of the solution.

Yours,

Malcolm Kerr Brodick