Nicola Sturgeon accused of ‘hypocrisy’ for not paying council tax : Express

NICOLA Sturgeon has been accused of hypocrisy for not paying council tax on her official residence despite imposing hikes that leave some families £600 a year worse off.

The First Minister is now under renewed pressure to foot a bill of up to £2,950 a year on her grace-and-favour Georgian mansion in Edinburgh.

As a working premises, Bute House, in Charlotte Square, is liable for business rates of around £36,752, which is paid by the Scottish Government. Both Ms Sturgeon and predecessor Alex Salmond criticised former Labour leader Jack McConnell for failing to pay the levy when he lived there.

Before being swept to power, Mr Salmond pledged to start paying the tax if he led the Nationalists to victory in 2007.

He accused Mr McConnell of “setting a bad example” while Ms Sturgeon called it “absolutely outrageous”.

But neither have lived up to the promise.

As Scots prepared to vote in today’s council elections, Tories urged Ms Sturgeon to rethink her stance. It comes after many local authorities increased council tax by three per cent in April following the end of the decade-long freeze. All households in Bands E-H also pay significantly more because of Government reforms. The changes leave some families £612 a year worse off.

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