Council Tax should be Scrapped says Lib Dem (Andrew Simpson)

Council Tax should be Scrapped says Lib Dem

February 28, 2007 11:41 PM

"We need to shift taxes from national to local - Council Tax sghould be scrapped"

Speaking on Radio Northampton today Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Northampton North Constituency, Andrew Simpson, called for Council Tax to be scrapped and replaced with a fairer Local Income Tax based on people's ability to pay.

"Yet again we have Council Tax in Northampton increasing more than the rate of inflation while wages and pension increases do not match" said Andrew. "The Council Tax system is undermining our democracy by forcing Council's into making high rises in tax while the Labour Government tightens the purse strings."

Northampton Borough Council received just a 2.7% increase in its grant from central Government whilst many of the Council's costs such as energy bills for leisure centres increased in excess of 5%.

"We need to shift taxes from national to local " continued Andrew "Local income tax would mean people only paid for Council services if they paid income tax but that all residents paid rather than just those who owned a property. We need a Government that finally tackles this issue that has been a running sore for so long. The losers are those on fixed and low incomes like pensioners who see more and more of their money taken in Council Tax. It is time for a change"