Trade unions have led way in fight for increased taxes to fund local government

Brian Wilson is correct to highlight the impact of government spending policy on councils and the services they provide (The Scotsman, 6 April). But he is wrong to say that “civic Scotland has shown a resolute lack of interest”. Or wrong at least to include trade unions in that critique.

For the past ten years the STUC and its members have campaigned for increased funding for local government and increased taxes to pay for it. We were the only ones to consistently call for the end to the council tax freeze, including at a time when no major political party could bring themselves to do so.

In the face of a decade of Westminster austerity (the bit of austerity in which Brian Wilson is for some reason rather disinterested) it is necessary for taxes to increase in Scotland if services, jobs and pay are to be protected.

That is what Scotland’s unions were campaigning for when we demonstrated outside Parliament on budget day. It was us who were quoted by Patrick Harvie, MSP, when he secured a deal for additional funding for councils and for pay. It was us who said that despite these concessions we were not satisfied and us who have announced a long-term campaign on public services and pay.

It may be that Brian Wilson missed the Unison Scotland demonstration outside the Scottish Parliament last autumn, or the firefighters’ rally at the Parliament last November. He may have missed that the education union EIS has been reported to be preparing for industrial action over pay. It is a fair prediction that industrial unrest will grow in the period ahead.

The truth is that Scottish public finances have suffered because of austerity. But it is also true, as we have consistently argued, that the current Scottish Government should do more. After a long period when we argued for more revenue-raising powers in Scotland, the new tax powers are finally with us and ready to use. Of course, calling for tax increases to fund public services is never easy. Indeed, Brian Wilson conveniently skirts that issue in his column. He has previously written that “higher taxation does not spring to mind as one of the remedies for the Scottish economy” (The Scotsman, 10 November, 2017). You may be able to have your cake and eat it if you are a newspaper columnist, but not so if you rely on vital public services or are a low-paid public worker.

The problems in our councils and across our public services are also a result of the forced reliance on private finance, and the consequent debt burdens, outsourcing, and Carillion-style governance failures. It shouldn’t be forgotten that this was encouraged by a political establishment of which Brian Wilson was part, and which demonstrated resolute indifference to the warnings of the trade unions and others in pursuing the private finance path.

For us the path is more straightforward. In our budget proposals, we argued for the raising of an additional £1 billion in revenue through tax increases and abolishing ineffective giveaways to business. Scotland’s trade unions, but few others, have been prepared to face the tax challenge head-on. We hope that others will do the same. GRAHAME SMITH

general secretary, Scottish Trades Union Congress