First Minister John Swinney has refused to say if the Scottish Government will seek to freeze council tax next year, as he promised local authority leaders he would have “an open and candid conversation” with them as part of the budget process.

As it sinks slowly into the mire of its own mediocrity, hardly a day passes without the SNP Government offering up another example of its bizarre, even warped, view of how to improve Scotland. Already this week,