I am horrified at the scale of the cuts the SNP have made in the Argyll & Bute Council Budget.

These cuts are not necessary. No other Council in Scotland is cutting on this scale. The only reason I can think of for these cuts is to build up a 'war chest' for the SNP to use to cut the Council Tax just before the next election.

One of the supporters of the SNP Budget, Councillor Freeman, tried to blame the UK Government for the cuts. He doesn't appear to be aware that it's the Scottish Government at Holyrood that decides how much each Council gets to spend these days, not the UK Government at Westminster.

The SNP, led by Helensburgh Councillor James Robb, are sacking hundreds of workers and slashing the budgets for care of the elderly, roads maintenance and keeping our towns and villages tidy. They're even taking milk away from school children. Instead of "Margaret Thatcher - Milk Snatcher", the new protest cry will be "Milk Robb-er".

These cuts are unnecessary as the Opposition Budget showed. The Council officials warned the SNP that their budget will see about �12 million spent on redundancy payments. This money could be better spent on Council services.

The officials also warned the SNP that their cuts to homecare for the elderly will see elderly people "living in deteriorating conditions which may then result in future emergency action at higher cost".

This SNP Budget is horrific. I appeal to them to think again.

Yours sincerely Alan Reid MP