Susan Dalgety: Why rich Edinburgh should pay more council tax

Edinburgh is a rich city. You only have to spend a few hours in the increasingly busy city centre, or stroll through one of its leafy suburbs to realise that there is a lot of wealth here.

A three per cent council tax increase isn't too much to ask when children are not getting enough to eat

There is also a lot of poverty. Soul-crushing, life-limiting poverty. So much so that the cash-strapped city council wants to set aside £400,000 for a “hunger” fund so that the 20 per cent of city kids living in poverty can get a free lunch during school holidays.

Councillors will decide the city’s budget for 2018-19 on Thursday, and as well as a hunger fund, they are proposing a three per cent increase on our council tax.

That means an increase of £36 a year on a Band D council tax charge of £1204 (not including water and sewage charges).

Hardly enough to buy a couple a three-course meal in one of Edinburgh’s many fine restaurants – and a small price to pay to help feed our hungry children.