You need not agree with John Alexander’s politics to applaud his frankness. Or to share his concern about the oncoming “crisis of gargantuan proportions”.
The Dundee City Council leader has spoken openly about the difficulties his own family are facing as winter approaches and their living costs rocket.
And he has laid bare the difficulties that authorities such as his are facing as a rising number of Scots find they can no longer make ends meet.
At just over £37,000, Mr Alexander’s salary is above the Scottish average.
But the prospect of finding another £600 a month to cover his mortgage payments and energy bills has left him “scratching his head” – and fearful for how less well-off households are excepted to manage.
Meanwhile charity workers in the city are dishing out blankets to working families, and churches are opening their doors to provide a warm space to people who can’t afford to heat their homes.
Services were already stretched to the limit, before the fallout from Liz Truss’s catastrophic mini-budget left many more families facing financial peril.
And now authorities are running out of funds to help them.
Cost of living crisis isn’t confined to Dundee
Mr Alexander says another £5 million is required to allow Dundee City Council to meet the immediate level of need.
But there is no sign of additional money being forthcoming – and no evidence that those in government are taking the issue seriously.
Dundee is unusual in that its leader is willing to speak so openly about his personal financial difficulties.
*This isnt a poor me post – rather illustrating a point with my own personal experience*
A thread….
Since March, my mortgage and energy are set to increase by £576 an EXTRA per month.
I don't live in a mansion, or in an affluent area, I live in Menzieshill in Dundee. pic.twitter.com/ebnfHMWZGO
— Councillor John Alexander (@CllrAlexander) October 18, 2022
But every council in the land will be grappling with the same larger concerns – and looking to central government for support.
The political drama at Westminster may be grabbing all the headlines.
But a far greater crisis is unfolding every day.
And here the casualties will not be political reputations, but people’s lives and communities’ futures.
This is a national emergency and it requires urgent intervention on a national scale to tackle it.
Conversation