Senior Green MSP says council tax freeze cash 'much better' spent combating poverty

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A senior Scottish Green MSP has said the Government would have been better using the cash for a council tax freeze on anti-poverty projects.Ross Greer, tipped as a future leader of his party, also said the freeze was not a “choice” made by the Greens.The SNP and Greens share power in the Government after a ground-breaking deal was struck when Nicola Sturgeon was First Minister.Tuesday’s Budget, marked by tax rises and spending cuts, was agreed by both sides but there were also differences behind the schemes.The Greens are strongly in favour of plans to increase the rates of income tax on people earning more than £75,000 a year.But they are also sceptical of the council tax freeze, first announced by Humza Yousaf at SNP conference, which they believe favours the better off.In an article for the Record, Greer said of the income tax rises: “It's important to the Greens that the richest pay the most to support public services like our NHS.“That’s why we’ve secured a series of tax changes since 2018, the result of which is an extra £1.5 billion next year alone for the services that we all rely on.

When Labour MSPs criticise those fair tax changes, they should list the services they’d cut instead.“The new tax band for those earning £75,000-£125,000 reflects our belief that the top 5% of earners can afford to pay a bit more again to protect essential services.”He was cooler on the council tax plan: “And, while it’s no secret that the Council Tax freeze would not be a Green choice, we share the First Minister’s desire to help families through this cost crisis.“The whole Council Tax system is unfair and decades out of date though.