Council asked to support Scotland’s say on future
COUNCIL leader Susan Aitken will ask elected members to call on Boris Johnson to give Scotland the right to choose its own future.
The Glasgow SNP leader is set to put forward a motion requesting a letter is sent to the Prime Minister to demand “the transfer of power that would put beyond doubt the Scottish Parliament’s right to legislate for a referendum on independence” when the council meets on Thursday.
Councillors are being asked to note a majority of Scotland’s MPs, and all of Glasgow’s, were elected on a “manifesto that noted the Scottish Government’s mandate to offer the people of Scotland the right to choose their own future in a new referendum”.
The council leader wants the authority to agree it is a “fundamental democratic principle” that decisions on the country’s future should be made by the people who live in Scotland.
“Glasgow wholeheartedly rejected ruthless Conservative austerity and isolationism which threatens jobs, sustainability and well-being and regards that the new Conservative government’s recklessness decision to delay its budget until March 11 is another example of the disregard in which it holds Scottish devolved and local government and Scottish communities,” she added.
The letter to Mr Johnson, to be sent by the council’s chief executive Annemarie O’Donnell, would also “express its alarm at the unacceptable UK budget delay”.
Chancellor Sajid Javid will unveil his spending plans on March 11, the same day Scottish local authorities have to set their tax rates. Another motion, from Labour councillor Malcolm Cunning, will call on Ms Aitken to push the Scottish Government for more funding for council services.
It asks the council to note “the decision by the UK Government not to publish a budget until March 11”.
“Council believes that this situation undermines local government in Scotland, and directly harms the vital services that are needed in our communities,” Mr Cunning’s motion adds.
He also wants the council to note “the recent Audit Scotland report, which highlights that total revenue funding from the Scottish
Government to local government has fallen by 7.6% in real terms since 2013/14”.
The motion asks for support for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities’ (COSLA) campaign “for fair funding for essential services”.
It adds the council should instruct “the leader of the council to make direct and public representation to the Scottish Government, that the budget settlement for local government in financial year 2020/2021 should be base, plus inflation, plus growth, and that all Scottish Government commitments should be fully funded, to allow for further meaningful investment in core council services on which every single citizen relies”.
COSLA has warned Javid of the risk facing Scottish councils as a result of the delay. It has welcomed the Scottish Government’s announcement of an early Scottish budget.