Pentlands parking fees perfectly illustrate impact of SNP practice

'm pretty sure the reason the SNP doesn’t scrap increasingly unaffordable giveaways like free university tuition, free prescriptions and free eyecare is they fear the inevitable backlash if they took them away.

- Sue Webber

That might not explain why they keep adding to this list, most recently free school breakfast clubs, but it also challenges the other parties to oppose what is likely to be popular, and locks them into paying for the new freebies if they get into power.

But nothing is free. Someone always pays. However when it comes to cuts, the SNP has proven adept at finding ways to shift the blame, either by complaining about Westminster even when the money increases, or through passing the buck by slashing local authority budgets to the bone so councils get the blame, not the government. It's the same for other public agencies who cop for it while SNP politicians duck for cover.