§ 10 pm
§ Mr. George Robertson (Hamilton)I beg to ask leave to present a petition on behalf of my constituents, protesting at the introduction of the poll tax in Scotland the year after next. Such a tax will be regressive and unfair. It will penalise the poor in favour of the rich. It will be an administrative nightmare, which will be costly and immensely bureaucratic. It will bear down on families and will drive young people from their parents' homes. As surely as that night follows day, it will lead to large-scale defections from electoral registers and to the disfranchisement of thousands of citizens. It is a pernicious, ill-considered, regressive and wholly dogmatic measure, and it shames the party that produced it as an alternative to the present rating system. The message to the Government from my constituents in the Hamilton constituency is quite clear: repeal the Act, repeal the measure.
§ To lie upon the Table.