Totnes shoppers queue up to sign 'Axe the Tax' petition

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 19th Oct 2003

Totnes Liberal Democrats had a huge response from shoppers on Saturday morning when they launched their 'Axe the Tax' campaign. Leader of the Liberal Democrat group on South Hams District Council, Cathie Pannell, joined Totnes Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson Mike Treleaven and

other Liberal Democrat Councillors in explaining Lib Dem proposals to replace Council Tax with Local Income Tax based on the ability to pay. Shoppers then had the opportunity to sign a petition calling on Government to implement these proposals. Mike and his colleagues were hard at work all morning as nearly 200 people signed up in a 2 hour period. Commenting on the successful launch Mike Treleaven said:

'The response we had today from the people of Totnes was terrific. People are fed up with the current system of raising money for local government which penalises the less well off at the expense of the wealthy. They had the opportunity today to make their views known and the overwhelming majority supported our policy as a much fairer system.' He continued:

' I was intrigued to read the comments of our M.P. Anthony Steen who described our actions as 'Mickey Mouse - like going on playing draughts whilst the Titanic is sinking', a metaphor more suited to the current antics of the Conservative party as they struggle from one crisis to the next. I would remind Mr. Steen that public outcry saw off the Conservative party's attempt to introduce the Poll Tax and that the current Council Tax crisis is a legacy of Conservative Government compounded by the present Labour Government. It is quite clear that the public see Council Tax as a huge problem and welcome Liberal Democrat proposals for a fair and just system to replace it. The Conservatives, on the other hand, have no concrete proposals for reforming the system. We shall be taking our petition around the constituency over the coming weeks to give everyone the chance to sign and take part in our national campaign. Next Saturday we shall be in Brixham town centre from 10.30a.m.and I look forward to talking to many more people about our plans.'