Bedford Borough Lib Dems Call for Fair Local Taxation

2.29.23pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 18th Jul 2007

A local income tax is needed to save local residents from council tax misery, say Bedford Borough Lib Dems

Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats have repeated their calls for the unfair council tax to be scrapped and replaced by a fair system of local taxation based on the ability to pay. The calls follow comments from the North East Bedfordshire Conservative MP in which he said of his party that it will merely be "watching carefully" while the Labour Government continues to increase the financial pressure on local residents via the unfair and discredited council tax.

Commenting on the issue, Bedford Borough Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Michael Headley said:

"The fundamentally unfair Council Tax must be scrapped in favour of a local tax based on the ability to pay. Certain political parties, however, seem content to sit on their hands when it comes to council tax and refuse to acknowledge that its unfairness is an urgent issue for local residents suffering at the hands of this outdated and discredited tax.'

"In his recent comments in the local press the Conservative MP for North East Bedfordshire correctly recognises the increasing financial burden that the government has placed on local taxpayers, and says of his own party that "we will be watching this carefully, while at the same time working out our own proposals." This simply isn't good enough for local residents who are suffering right now due to the unfair council tax, particularly when the fair answer to this problem is obvious: a local tax based on the ability to pay, as proposed by the Liberal Democrats.'

"Labour are happy to leave an unfair system which punishes those on low and relatively fixed incomes such as pensioners, while the Tories simply "watch carefully" with no solutions to offer local residents struggling to pay rising bills. We need a fair solution - that's why we need a local income tax to save local residents from Council tax misery."