LEAFLET BILL TO LAND ON TAXPAYERS

SCOTS taxpayers should foot the £11 million bill for posting the thousands of campaign leaflets that are pushed through their doors, council leaders claim.

With local elections on May 5, leaflets and flyers will be delivered to homes up and down the country in the next few weeks.

While many will go straight in the bin or recycling, council bosses say Scots should pay for the postage on them.

They want freepost for candidates, with taxpayers paying rather than political parties.

At present, candidates can use freepost for Scottish elections, at a cost of £11 million.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘While there are currently no free mailings for council candidates, the Scottish Government is open to exploring their introduction.

‘However, this would have to be funded by local government.’

A spokesman for Cosla, the group representing local authorities, said: ‘This will be one of a few things we will discuss further with the Scottish Government post-election as part of future election arrangements.’