A key criticism of the council tax freeze has come from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, which believes that a consequence of the freeze “is that local autonomy has effectively been limited”and that“accountability has been impaired by this national arrangement.”Unlike Mr Salmond and Mr Swinney, I respect the autonomy and local democratic accountability of local authorities and I share councils’ contempt for the shameless politicking behind the SNP’s commitment to a two-year freeze based on a one-year budget.