Mackenzie adds up costs to Argyll of ID Cards, Trident and public expenditure cuts and wonders…

The UK Government’s proposed ID cards – which are being introduced by stealth by way of, for example, the Young Scot Card – have always been recognised as having  a serious cost implication as well as their negative impact on human rights.

In drawing attention to the fact that the population of Argyll and Bute’s share of the cost of the introduction of these cards will be £7.77 million, Mike MacKenzie, one of Argyll’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidates for Westminster (SNP) has added up some more costs Argyll will share. The list is:

• £7.77 million – share of the cost of the ID card proposals.
• £3.35 million per annum – share of the annual cost over the next thirty years of replacing Trident
• £18 million – approximate share of the UK Treasury’s upcomingcuts to public expenditure

He asks if these are what we would choose to spend our money on? He then answers his own question: ‘With these financial resources at our disposal we could make significant improvements to health care, to education and to infrastructure in Argyll and Bute, especially if the Scottish Government had the ability to borrow for capital projects’.

Hey – we might even fix the potholes on the roads on Mull.