Pain Free Cuts
I had a read at the Glasgow City Council Magazine - which has been been withdrawn following a complaint by the SNP - see the post below dated 31 March 2011: 'Money Down the Drain'.
Apparently this glossy montly magazine has been running for seven years - at a reputed cost of £42,000 for each issue - and is due to be replaced later this year.
Not a moment too soon because along with the editor - there are seven other contributors credited in the latest edition - which has Carol Smillie on the front cover in Edwardian costume.
The costs involved in all of this must be enormous and very difficult to justify - especially when the council keeps complaining about 'cuts'.
Seems to me that a 'pain free' cut - is staring the city's politicians straight in the face.
"Money Down the Drain"
"Glasgow City Council has poured £42,000 of taxpayers money down the drain - The Herald newspaper reports today.
An article by Paul Hutcheon reveals that the council has been forced to withdraw thousands of copies of a publicly-funded magazine - because it contains a hypocritical pre-election attack on the SNP Government.
The report contains the following extract from the magazine - the production costs for each edition are around £42,000:
"Labour leader Matheson said: “This year Finance Minister John Swinney offered councils a 2.6% funding cut – but threatened to withhold an extra £50 million unless we agreed to demands designed to win his party votes in May.
He continued: “Even though we signed up to his deal, without drawing breath Mr Swinney broke his promise and cut our budget by 3.6% anyway – forcing us to find millions in additional savings this year."
Now the majority of voters seem to support the council tax freeze - which has proved to be one of the SNP government's most successful policies of the past four years.
So much so that even Iain Gray - the Scottish Labour leader - has become a supporter.
In which case why is a Labour led council using public money - to slag off the government of the day?
Bear in mind the actual cost to the taxpayer is much more than £42,000.
When you take into account the staffing costs of producing what really just amounts to - party political propaganda."
Apparently this glossy montly magazine has been running for seven years - at a reputed cost of £42,000 for each issue - and is due to be replaced later this year.
Not a moment too soon because along with the editor - there are seven other contributors credited in the latest edition - which has Carol Smillie on the front cover in Edwardian costume.
The costs involved in all of this must be enormous and very difficult to justify - especially when the council keeps complaining about 'cuts'.
Seems to me that a 'pain free' cut - is staring the city's politicians straight in the face.
"Money Down the Drain"
"Glasgow City Council has poured £42,000 of taxpayers money down the drain - The Herald newspaper reports today.
An article by Paul Hutcheon reveals that the council has been forced to withdraw thousands of copies of a publicly-funded magazine - because it contains a hypocritical pre-election attack on the SNP Government.
The report contains the following extract from the magazine - the production costs for each edition are around £42,000:
"Labour leader Matheson said: “This year Finance Minister John Swinney offered councils a 2.6% funding cut – but threatened to withhold an extra £50 million unless we agreed to demands designed to win his party votes in May.
He continued: “Even though we signed up to his deal, without drawing breath Mr Swinney broke his promise and cut our budget by 3.6% anyway – forcing us to find millions in additional savings this year."
Now the majority of voters seem to support the council tax freeze - which has proved to be one of the SNP government's most successful policies of the past four years.
So much so that even Iain Gray - the Scottish Labour leader - has become a supporter.
In which case why is a Labour led council using public money - to slag off the government of the day?
Bear in mind the actual cost to the taxpayer is much more than £42,000.
When you take into account the staffing costs of producing what really just amounts to - party political propaganda."
