Spend And Tax.

Is it just Mr Smith, or does yesterday's Pre-Budget Report delivered by UK Chancellor Alistair Darling MP turn on its head the prevailing political and economic orthodoxies which have been operated in Britain for probably the last sixty years?

Does it really make sense to turn Britain into an trillion pound indebted nation that won't be able to balance it books until 2015/16 even on the basis of the UK Government's rather dodgy budget numbers in an attempt to lessen the impact of economic recession that will probably hit us all hard anyway.

Mr Smith is not convinced, and tends to the view that dodgy borrowing by banks and individuals is exactly what got the British and other global economies into this mess in the first place. If in the new world in which we live, individuals and households are expected to balance their books and not live beyond their means, can it really be right for the British Government to do otherwise?

Not Named And Shamed.

Mr Smith is all for protecting peoples' civil liberties, but when you are a local government councillor drawing an annual salary of £16,500 plus with council tax debts of £500 that seems less important. They should clear their debt or be named and shamed.

"The convener of Highland Council yesterday defended privacy laws which protect the anonymity of any serving councillor who owes the authority hundreds of pounds in unpaid council tax. The Press and Journal has learned that an unidentified councillor was yesterday £570.04 in arrears of council tax."

Another dodgy councillor albeit one that is currently anonymous.

Aberdeen City blues.

So, Aberdeen City Council is trying to fill a black hole in its budget with revenue … er … generated by pursuing debts out of a different black hole.

“Aberdeen City Council is owed a staggering £55.6million in unpaid debts, it emerged last night. New figures show that £45.2million is being pursued in council tax arrears, dating back to 1993. Current council house tenants owe £3.1million in unpaid rent and the authority is chasing up £3.8million owed by people who no longer live in properties. Approximately £3.5million is owed in unpaid parking tickets but the authority may struggle to recoup the funds due to a possible legal blunder.”

Now Mr Smith believes that people should pay their way, but does anyone at Aberdeen City Council really believe that if they haven’t been able so far to get someone to pay a council tax debt going back a few years, let alone to 1993, they are suddenly going to be able to do so now? And how is it possible anyway for this amount of debt to be left “lying on the books” for so long without someone collecting it or just writing it off as simply uncollectable?