POLITICIANS TO BE HIT FOR EXTRA £1M UNDER SSP TAX PLAN

SSP Press Conference
MONDAY 28 APRIL, 11 A.M. Glasgow Film Theatre
Rose Street, Glasgow


Under the Scottish Socialist Party's plan to replace the Council Tax with a new Scottish Service Tax, Scotland's 209 MPs, MSPs and MEPs would pay an extra £1 million towards local services. The new system would be based on income rather than property and aims to shift the burden of local taxation from low-income to high-income households. Right now, Scotland's politicians pay an average of around £1,500 in Council Tax. A cabinet minister can expect to earn 12 times more than a hospital ancillary worker - yet they will pay just twice as much in Council Tax.

Under the Scottish Socialist Party's proposal:
* Scotland's MPs will have to stump up an extra £625,000 (£734,872 compared with a combined Council Tax bill of £108,000)
* MSPs will pay an extra £400,000 (£602,024 compared with £193,500)
* MEPs will an extra £28,000 (£40,000 compared with £12,000).

SSP leader Tommy Sheridan said:
"The Council Tax was designed on the back of a fag packet by the last Tory government when their Poll Tax fell apart. It was blatantly rigged to protect the rich and punish the poor. Even under the old rates system there was a 14:1 differential between the highest payers and the lowest payers. Under the Council Tax that differential is just THREE to one - even though the wealth gap has widened spectacularly since the Council Tax was introduced exactly ten years ago.”

Tommy Sheridan attacked Scotland's Labour politicians for complicity in a ten year long Tory Tax:
"Scottish politicians are benefiting to the tune of over £1 million from the Council Tax. That's the amount they would be forced to cough up under a fair system based on income. Maybe that's one reason why they're so reluctant to get rid of this painful hangover from the last Tory government.”
[ends]
For further information contact Tommy Sheridan on 07887 795075 or Alan McCombes on 07881 988337