Sir,
Your readers will have seen claims from the SNP that North Ayrshire Council is set to receive an increase in our budget this year. I have even seen a claim from one of our MSPs, Kenny Gibson of the SNP, of a £6.5m increase. This is pure fantasy. It’s so inaccurate as to be laughable. The final budget out-turn for North Ayrshire is a tiny £130,000 cash increase on a £330m budget. Bear in mind that, with inflation currently at three per cent the council would need around £10m increase just to stand still.
It’s worth noting that, on Wednesday February 21, in Holyrood, the same Kenny Gibson voted, with all other SNP and Green MSPs, to make North Ayrshire poorer. I’m sure he didn’t put that in his election leaflet – vote SNP and we’ll make you poorer – but that’s what he did. He did it last year too. And the year before. In fact Kenny Gibson has voted to reduce council budgets and therefore cut vital North Ayrshire services every year since 2007/8: first through a prolonged council tax freeze and flatcash settlements, then for SNP cuts on top of Conservative cuts from Westminster. That’s 10 years of cuts to social care that Kenny Gibson has voted for. And cuts to elderly services, children’s services, schools and education, roads, public toilets, public libraries, community groups and services and other vital resources. Not to mention the hundreds of jobs lost. And while Kenny Gibson has cut these services every year, he has never issued a word of apology or explanation to the people who voted for him.