Yousaf’s council tax freeze is a double whammy for people who are struggling - Susan Dalgety

Humza Yousaf soaked up his standing ovation after his speech to his loyal fans, sorry, SNP membership, at last week’s party conference.

Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Humza Yousaf making his keynote speech during the SNP annual conference at the Event Complex Aberdeen (TECA) in Aberdeen.

He has had a terrible time recently – his parents-in-law are trapped in Gaza, innocent victims of a terrible conflict, so little wonder he took some time to revel in the applause.

And he must have been confident that the highlight of his speech – freezing council tax next year - would earn him much-needed votes at the general election.

Some polls have Scottish Labour ahead of the SNP for Westminster seats – the first time since 2010 – so every little helps.

But barely had he left the stage than his critics piled in. The angriest response came from those with most to lose from his unexpected electoral bribe – the country’s councillors.

The men and women who run vital public services, from social care to schools, are angry at what they say is Yousaf’s reckless interference in their already fraught financial planning.

The SNP’s Shona Morrison, president of the Scottish local authorities association (Cosla), and its vice president, Steven Heddle, could not contain their anger in a statement issued only hours after Yousaf sat down.

“The announcement of a council tax freeze was made completely without reference to local government, and there is no agreement to freeze council tax next year, the decision…is one which can only be made by councils…there is very real anger at the way this has been handled,” it read.

The First Minster has promised to find the hundreds of millions required from down the back of the sofas in Bute House, but that money will have to come from government resources that are already under severe strain.

Is he going to take it from the NHS? And the decision to freeze council tax is not the perk his speech writers pretended.

Freezing council tax is a bonus, not for Edinburgh’s most vulnerable citizens, but for those people lucky enough to live in properties in the highest bands.

The biggest savings will go to Edinburgh folk who pay, for example, the H band. It currently stands at £3672 a year (including water and sewerage), while A band properties attract a charge of £1299 a year.

And most pensioners and people surviving on universal credit will not benefit from Yousaf’s generosity, as they already receive a council tax rebate.

As the Cosla statement pointed out, “previous council tax freezes have been regressive, having no impact for the poorest in society and eroding the council tax base, compounding councils' ongoing underfunding.”

In other words, the council tax freeze is a double whammy for people who are struggling: they won’t benefit and their services will be cut.

And leading Labour figure Blair McDougall pointed out on social media that the SNP’s last council tax freeze saved the wealthiest households three times the amount the poorest people got.

“Worse, the freeze was largely paid for by increased charges and cuts to the services the most vulnerable relied on,” he said.

As an ambitious politician, keen to shore up his party’s popularity, it is perhaps understandable that the First Minister wanted his speech to make an impact.

But instead of headlines proclaiming him a hero, he has been revealed as desperate.