It's all in the language.

[deecom]

Nit picking here. I gave the reaso^n for the Community Charge being applied in Scotland first. The reason for its creation was a lot of unhappiness that a pensioner living in a nice house, which they bought because they could afford it at the time, could pay more in taxes than a family where 4 people were working and living in a more modest property. I have given an extreme example. There was a property revaluation in the pipeline which would have created more tax for people in bigger properties in fashionable areas. It seemed unfair that a household with 4 people and possibly quite a substantial combined income should pay a lot less than a thrifty pensioner whose property had increased so much because of inflation, and who might be on a very modest pension.

The idea was that if you had an income you should pay something to the council to help pay for the services provided. That's why it was called a Community Charge. It was a silly idea and it was heavily criticised right from the start by everyone apart from the Scottish Conservatives.

I remember at tha time, my friend in Manchester had a house similar to mine, his rates were £42/month and my rates were £96/m.
When the poll tax was introduced, I was then paying £54 / month.
Many people lost their right to vote rather than pay towards their residence, when the poll tax started.

[BCram]

I remember at tha time, my friend in Manchester had a house similar to mine, his rates were £42/month and my rates were £96/m.
When the poll tax was introduced, I was then paying £54 / month.
Many people lost their right to vote rather than pay towards their residence, when the poll tax started.

Had forgotten that additional twist. I thought that feature was actually which drove the left mad. Don't pay tax, don't get to vote. That was taking us right back to rich people rules etc.

[islaydarkblue]

I remember at tha time, my friend in Manchester had a house similar to mine, his rates were £42/month and my rates were £96/m.
When the poll tax was introduced, I was then paying £54 / month.
Many people lost their right to vote rather than pay towards their residence, when the poll tax started.

In April 1992 I was working on the Bank of Scotland mobile bank in Perthshire.
On the Monday morning before the 1993 General Election we drew up at our stance in Stanley at 11am. John Swinney who was the red hot favourite for the Perth and East Perthshire seat was finishing being interviewed by Grampian TV. When his interview was over he came onto the mobile bank to ‘press the flesh’. He shook hands with the driver and then shook hands with me.
John Swinney then asked me if he could count on my vote.
I replied No.
John Swinney was taken aback. Nobody was allowed to say No to a prospective SNP MP.
He asked me why. I told him that I was a Conservative and Unionist voter and even if I had wanted to vote for him I could not because I lived in the Dundee West constituency.
I also told him that he would not get elected because he told his SNP supporters not to register for the Community Charge. As a result they were not on the electoral roll and they do not get a vote.
John Swinney did not win the seat and the political experts assumed that this was because of a surge in the Tory vote in Scotland resulting in John Major’s Conservative government remaining in power. I knew differently.
Sadly the following Monday morning John Swinney was nowhere to be seen when we drew up at the stance in Stanley. I was very disappointed as I was hoping that he might have been there to tell me that I was correct that he did not get elected.
These ‘missing’ SNP supporters were not on the voters roll until nearly one million people registered to be added to the electoral roll prior to the 2014 independence referendum.
These people should have paid back their Community Charge payments which they should have paid to their local authority and was basically theft. The local authorities still had these debts outstanding on their books but Alex Salmond after the 2014 independence referendum wrote off these debts using the money that the Scottish Government received from the Barnett Formula.