TODAY is Inverclyde Council’s budget day.

The twenty-two members of the council have two budget proposals before them.

One, which would see a council tax rise for the coming year of 8.2 per cent, and another, which accepts the council tax freeze funding from the Scottish Government, meaning no percentage rise in the coming year.

In recent weeks, a consultation took place asking the people of Inverclyde to choose between raising council tax or cutting services.

Some of you may remember that the SNP group were not happy about that consultation taking place.

This was not because we are anti-consultation – far from it. Rather, our objection was to the unnecessarily stark, binary choice between a tax rise or making cuts.

I would urge you to look at the papers online for the council meeting this afternoon. Two budgets. One, presented by the Labour administration, Cllr McVey, and Provost McKenzie, which puts forward an 8.2 per cent rise in council tax, and another, presented by the SNP group, which accepts the funding for a council tax freeze – but crucially also has minimal cuts.

There was always another way. There were always other options that could have been considered. It just did not fit the political narrative for them to be put out there.

Today, as we make the choice in our chamber, that choice for me is really clear. The value of the Scottish Government funding is similar to that of the 8.2 per cent council tax increase.

So the choice is this: to balance our budget as a council, should we accept the money that the Scottish Government are offering us to keep council tax where it has been in the past year – knowing that there are not huge cuts accompanying this decision, or do we reject that money, and then ask the people of Inverclyde to put their hands directly into their pockets to balance the budget instead?

On principle, during a cost of living crisis, when some people are struggling to put food on their tables and some people are struggling to keep up with mortgage payments, raising another household cost – in this case, council tax – when there is a clear option not to do so, is not a decision my group can make in clear conscience.

We will not support a tax rise when other councils the length and breadth of the country are benefiting from a council tax Freeze.

The value of the funding from the Scottish Government, which is available for us to accept today, is now at such a level that rejecting it would be self-defeating.

More than that, it is harmful to the people of Inverclyde. The funding offer is baselined and therefore by rejecting it, we lose it from future years’ budget settlements.

So, the councillors who vote to raise council tax are not only harming your pocket now, but they are also harming the financial base of future council budgets.

If council tax rises today, as a result of a vote, when there is a credible and entirely acceptable option for that not to happen – with no detriment to the council or to services – then I assure you that none of your SNP councillors will have made that happen.