Fears are growing amongst Scottish Local Councils that next year’s Rate Support Grant settlement will not be sufficient to allow them to meet their service obligations.
The Dundee Courier of 26 October reported Fife Council as believing their 2008 government funding may result in a 3% cut across departments. As the Courier editorial points out “indications are that the fat years are over and the lean years are upon us”.
Fair enough the party’s over.
Let’s forget the fact that ordinary people never did get an invitation, why does a government which is forcing Fife to contemplate quadrupling it’s meals on wheels charges, why does it allow the military top brass to run up a huge wining and dining bill? For following a series of questions by the MP for Durham North, Kevan Jones, a member of the Commons defense committee, the Ministry of Defense has admitted Britain’s top military personnel spent an astonishing £10 million in the last two years on entertainment.
Sir Richard Dannet, chief of the general staff and his predecessor Sir Mike Jackson ran up tabs of £22,000 and £21,000 alone.
In his masterpiece, A tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens comes to the conclusion that life in late 18th century France was depending on your place in the social pecking order, “the best of times or the worst of times”.
And so today…while they’re passing the Krug in the Cavalry Club mess, in Kelty they’ll be asking if the home help will turn up.
