COUNCILLORS in Argyll and Bute have become the first to defy the SNP-Green Scottish government’s council tax freeze.

The rural council, led by a coalition of Liberal Democrat, Tory and independent councillors, chose on Thursday night to increase council tax by 10 per cent rather than accept its share of the £147 million that the Scottish government has offered councils in compensation.

The last national council tax freeze lasted over a decade, during which 20,000 local authority jobs were lost as the Scottish government faced repeated criticism from town halls that the policy was underfunded.