Evening News
A new opinion poll shows 77 per cent of Scots think the council tax is unfair, with only 12 per cent disagreeing.
And the Scottish Socialists, who want to replace the council tax with an income-based public service tax, are promising a grassroots campaign to mobilise opposition.
The Scottish Socialists’ public service tax would be raised at a uniform rate across Scotland but distributed to councils according to need, while the Lib Dems and the SNP favour an income tax set locally by each authority.

Press & Journal
There was wide support for proposals to scrap the council tax at a public meeting in Aberdeen last night.
About 40 people turned out to hear Scottish Socialist MSP Colin Fox during a visit to the city to discuss the party's campaign to abolish the council tax in favour of a tax based on income and ability to pay.

ANTI-WAR PROTESTORS NOT FREE TO SPEAK OUT

A council was accused last night of putting a price on freedom of expression over plans to bill demonstrators for a protest during a visit to Scotland by Tony Blair.
Highland Council has infuriated anti-war groups by threatening to charge them for any road closures caused by their protest during the prime minister's visit to Inverness.
The Highland Coalition for Justice Not War and its parent body, the Scottish Coalition, said billing protesters for the march and rally near the Scottish Labour Party conference in the city later this month would set a worrying precedent and could damage freedom of speech.
...
Scottish Socialist Party spokesman Steve Arnott said the charge threatened to undermine democratic rights.
"This would be the first time any group has been charged in this way," he said.
"When we raised this with Highland Council, they said they didn't have a contingency fund to cover this kind of thing.
"We suggested they establish a fund because, if people want to exercise their democratic right and carry out a peaceful protest, the council should accommodate that." Press and Journal

Caithness Courier
CAMPAIGNERS fighting threats to downgrade local maternity services have announced plans to stage a mass protest outside Caithness General Hospital on Mother's Day.
The action was endorsed at a public meeting organised by the Scottish Socialist Party and attended by more than 70 people in the Assembly Rooms, Wick, on Saturday.
Registered midwife Carolyn Leckie, an SSP MSP and her party's health spokeswoman, was guest speaker and told the gathering the current review of local maternity services is a sham.
Ms Leckie told the meeting: "This is an absolutely horrendous prospect to contemplate in the 21st century when we are the fourth-richest country in the world. We shouldn't be talking about setting back our maternity services, we should be improving them and making them fit for the 21st century.

Daily Record
THE Royal Bank of Scotland are set to announce the largest ever profit by a British bank.
Their figure for 2003 will be a whopping £7 billion when it is announced to city money men later this week.
That's £221 per second. It will be seen as a triumph for bank boss Fred Goodwin, dubbed Fred the Shred because of his ruthless cost-cutting skills.
But the sheer scale of the profit nearly double Barclays' £3.8 billion earlier this month means the bank are bracing themselves for an angry backlash.
Barclays' profits were described as 'outrageous' by politicians, trade unions and anti-poverty campaigners.
Yesterday, Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan said: 'The Royal Bank are set to announce their figures days after council taxes were increased and Scottish Power put their prices up.
'Ordinary working people are toiling and struggling while the banks make excessive profits.'

The Herald
RIVAL parties which support local income tax have given the Scottish Socialists' plans for a public service tax short shrift, but even they sat up and took notice yesterday at figures showing that voters are overwhelmingly supportive of reform of the current council tax.
Tommy Sheridan, convener of the SSP, hailed the results of the opinion poll yesterday, saying: "The poll clearly confirms the growing opposition to the unfair Tory council tax and the demand for an income-based alternative.
"It is an enormous boost to the Scrap the council tax campaign."

BBC News Online
Seven out of 10 Scots think council tax is unfair and should be scrapped, according to a survey.
The System Three poll found that 77% of Scots believe it should be replaced by a tax based on ability to pay.
Of those surveyed for the poll commissioned by the Scottish Socialist Party, 12% said they believed the tax should be retained.
The SSP plans a demonstration in Glasgow on 24 April and has launched a petition for the tax to be replaced.
The SSP claimed the results of the survey were a huge boost to its recently launched Scrap the Council Tax campaign.

Scottish Press Association
Nearly eight out of 10 Scots think council tax is unfair and should be scrapped, according to a survey today.
Some 77% of Scots believe it should be replaced by a tax based on ability to pay, the independent poll by TNS System Three showed.
Only 12% of Scots interviewed wanted to keep the tax, the poll – commissioned by the Scottish Socialist Party found.
The SSP said the results of the survey were a huge boost to its recently launched Scrap the Council Tax campaign.
The party is planning a demonstration in Glasgow on April 24 and has launched a nationwide petition demanding the council tax be replaced.
SSP leader Tommy Sheridan said: “Almost 80% of Scots now believe the Tory council tax is unfair and should be replaced by a system based on ability to pay.
“If the Scottish Executive doesn’t heed this they will be cast aside by the tidal wave of opposition that will grow over the coming months.
“We will march in our thousands in April and demand action by an Executive that seems more interested in protecting the wealthy than caring about Scotland’s army of pensioners and low paid workers.”

Sunday Mail
EIGHT out of 10 Scots think the council tax is unfair and should be overhauled, according to a survey.
The opinion poll reveals the vast majority of Scots want the system changed to take income into account.
The findings emerged in a TNS System Three poll, commissioned by the Scottish Socialist Party.