A SCOTTISH council passed its budget despite community anti-cuts protests.

The Labour-led West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) had faced a shortfall of over £14 million in the coming year, but balanced the books with a combination of cuts, use of reserves and a 7.8 per cent hike in council tax.

Council leader, Councillor Martin Rooney, insisted it sought to “protect essential services wherever possible” and “support West Dunbartonshire through one of the most challenging periods in recent memory.”

But Clydebank TUC secretary Tam Morrison was left unimpressed, telling the Star: “Rent increases, council tax increases, while services are cut once again.

“They claim, as usual, they are making difficult choices when the real difficult course of action would be taking on the political elite.

“The desperation people face in their daily lives is a cause of the rise of the far-right who blame the hardship communities are facing on desperate people arriving in small boats.

“Welfare not Warfare should be the demand from politicians at all levels instead of the spineless response we are getting from the likes of WDC and their ilk.”