Okay, so we know now that the council tax in Glasgow is going up by 7.5% and we know the effect and we know the reason. The effect is some folk will struggle to pay and the reason is Glasgow doesn’t have enough money, its budget is busted, and it needs to tax, baby, tax. But we should also try to work out what else the city could do to raise some money.

One of the ideas under consideration is a congestion charge along the lines of the one in London, Bristol, and other places. Glasgow already has a low emission zone that restricts certain cars from coming into the centre, but a congestion charge would affect many more vehicles and therefore raise more money for a city in financial trouble. That’s the good bit.

The bad bit is the possible effect on a city centre that’s already struggling. I’m not long back from Aberdeen which is much further down the road than Glasgow on this and has really turned the screw on cars with a low-emission zone, restricted streets and bus gates. The council’s done it presumably because they’re in trouble (aren’t they all) and think they can raise money, but the effect on footfall has been catastrophic, the high street is drained of life and it’s a ghostly place really. For someone like me who grew up in Aberdeen - for anyone - it’s shocking.

Sadly, you can see some of the same signs in Glasgow, particularly on Sauchiehall Street and Argyle Street, and a congestion charge could make it worse. This may not, probably will not, stop the council from doing it anyway. But another idea they’re considering is better, and would also have........

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