MALCOLM BURNS witnesses the 'nat tax' debate at First Minister's questions.
AMONG the many grey alternatives which parliamentary politics offers us, perhaps the most tedious is the question, council tax or local income tax?
The issue may be even more soporific than Alistair Darling.
Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander's new measured tones were suited to the subject as she pressed First Minister Alex Salmond for detail on the SNP government's proposal to introduce a local income tax.
Mr Salmond, in contrast, sounded ebullient, as usual, though his answers revealed precious little.
"It will be a £281 million tax cut for working families across Scotland," Mr Salmond declared.
He repeated the figure several times but didn't give much else away, which is perhaps an indication that the SNP is on dodgy ground.
Ms Alexander's judgement appeared a little off beam when she claimed that "the 'nat tax' got an even worse reception than Thatcher's poll tax."
I don't predict a riot, Wendy.
Abolishing council tax was a popular manifesto commitment for the SNP last May. However, today's political reality looks a lot more difficult.
For a start, the Scottish parliamentary arithmetic doesn't add up - the government will be short of a majority.
Then there is the issue of council tax benefit. The Westminster government wants to withhold £450 million which is allocated to relieving the burden of council tax on those who can least afford it.
Blairite minister James Purnell argues that, if local income tax is based on ability to pay, there is no need for the benefit.
It was Tory leader Annabel Goldie who claimed: "Perhaps we are detecting the early signs of retreat," though Mr Salmond continued to appear upbeat.
The smart money must now be on the Scottish government failing to deliver the local income tax and, naturally enough, blaming the British government.
Meanwhile, the Calcutta Cup's imminent arrival at Parliament with the Scotland rugby team after their quite unexpected victory over England in the Six Nations tournament proved the perfect opportunity for the venerable silver trophy to be used as a political football by Scotland's leaders.
Wendy Alexander got in first, congratulating the Scottish team on their victory.
Mr Salmond concurred, but Annabel Goldie got the laugh by claiming that Scotland had only ever won Grand Slams under Tory governments.
"Not long to wait now, lads," she quipped.
It's not the first time that the Calcutta Cup has been used as a football.
Famously, it was damaged in a drunken spree by international players in Princes Street, Edinburgh, after a Scotland defeat at Murrayfield 20 years ago.
Yes, 1988 - the year that Thatcher's Tory government passed the iniquitous Local Government Finance Act for England and Wales which brought in the poll tax, after hammering the Scots the year before with the genuinely hated Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc (Scotland) Act in 1987.
We still bear the scars. But it looks like Son of Poll Tax could be with us for a while yet.
Malcolm Burns is the Morning Star's Scottish correspondent.
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