Julie Hepburn

Local Labour MP Rosemary McKenna has voted against a package of compensation for people who lost out after the UK Government 10p tax rate fiasco. Demands for the UK Government to provide compensation to all those who lost out were defeated in the House of Commons recently when Labour MPs, including Rosemary McKenna, voted against it.

Last year, I was campaigning against the decision of the UK Government to scrap the 10p tax rate, because it was always going to hit the very people who could least afford it with a huge tax hike.

Times are now even tougher for people across Scotland, as the recession has hit. Labour has well and truly abandoned the people they have always claimed to represent.

The SNP opposed this measure from the start and SNP MPs voted for the compensation package. Local people will be

disgusted that Rosemary McKenna voted against it.

The SNP is doing everything in its power to help people out through these tough economic times: freezing council tax, phasing out prescription charges and driving down business rates for small businesses. Meanwhile, the Labour UK Government is inflicting shameful tax hikes on low paid workers and pensioners and is wasting billions of pounds on a new nuclear weapons system instead of investing in public services.

A vote for the SNP at the forthcoming Westminster election will be a vote for a strong voice for our local community in parliament. The SNP will stand up to the UK Government and demand the best for the people of Scotland – we will not traipse through the lobbies and prop up policies like tax hikes for the poorest.