Council Tax - the most grossly unfair tax we have says Totnes Liberal Democrat

12.00.00am GMT Sun 16th Mar 2003

Council tax bills are now flooding through our letter boxes and the reality of the swinging increases that have had to be imposed by Devon County Council and South Hams District Council are hitting home. The Governments decision to switch funding from the South to the North and Midlands has put our local authorities in an impossible position and proves what Liberal Democrats have always said -Council Tax is a completely unfair way of raising money as it takes no account of people's ability to pay. Commenting on the increases Totnes Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson Mike Treleaven said:

' The government seem to think that we in Devon are rich beyond measure. The reality is that we have a huge retired population on pensions that don't even rise to keep pace with inflation and a workforce with wages some 20% below the average for the rest of the country. It is nonsense to expect people on low incomes , be they pensioners or working folk, to pay the same as high earners. The only answer is taxation based on the ability to pay.' He continued ' I quite understand the anger that has encouraged pensioners to form an action group to contest the next County Council elections - indeed my next door neighbour, a very law abiding citizen, has threatened to go to jail rather than pay more than an inflation linked increase. All I would say to them is vote for the Liberal Democrats. We call for the government to make an immediate reduction in everyone's Council Tax bill of £100 and we would make abolition of Council Tax a top priority.