Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnstonhas hit out after nationalist politicians at Holyrood refused to accept proposals which would limit the damage of the Scottish Government’s proposed car park tax.
If introduced in Moray, the proposed Workplace Parking Levy could add hundreds of pounds of costs to local commuters, but Scottish Conservative amendments were voted down by a combination of SNP and Green members in the Scottish Parliament today (19th June).
The Scottish Conservative MSP said his party colleague’s amendments would have protected police, healthcare workers, teachers, charity staff and people on benefits from paying the charge.
Mr Halcro Johnston said: “I know that currently the administration on Moray Council is, rightly, against this SNP Government proposal and has no plans to implement it.
“However, as the SNP Government’s squeeze on local council funding is likely to continue, there is the real threat that more and more local authorities will be left with few alternatives but to look at all potential funding streams to help plug gaps in their budgets and avoid even more damaging cuts to local public services.
“If the administration on Moray Council does introduce the Workplace Parking Levy at a later date, these Conservative amendments would have at least ensured that many local people would have been protected from the SNP’s car park and not punished simply for turning up at work.
“Unfortunately, the SNP and their Green allies voted against us, with one SNP MSP even suggesting that it was only the “elite” who drive into work, utterly ignoring the fact that many people rely heavily on their car to get to work.
“The SNP’s car park tax really does show how increasingly out of touch with communities like Moray the central belt focused SNP government are becoming”.
