Conservatives and Labour offer no alternative to the unfair Council Tax

4.25.00pm GMT Wed 18th Nov 2009

Julia Goldsworthy MP, shadow secretary of state for Local Government

Commenting on Government figures showing that local authorities have more than doubled the amount of money raised from Council Tax in the past decade, Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy MP said: "Millions of families have struggled with Council Tax bills that have soared while Labour has tinkered at the edges. Both the Tories and Labour offer no serious alternative to a tax that has skyrocketed this decade. The Liberal Democrats would move to a fair system of local taxation based on people's ability to pay."

Added Wantage and Didcot spokesman Alan Armitage: "For an increasing number of people on low or fixed incomes, the Council Tax has become an albatross around their necks, and only the Liberal Democrats have been trying to help them. The other Parties say a Local Income Tax is unworkable in Britain. But it works perfectly well in many countries in Europe and in the USA, and people feel it's fair, so why not here? I happen to know that the Inland Revenue's computer systems are already set up to cope with Local Income Tax, so it wouldn't even need one of those expensive government IT contracts to bring it in. And there would be thousands of local government jobs saved, as an added bonus."