Tories to "double council tax" claim Lib Dems

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 10th Feb 2004

In today's Commons Opposition Day debate on scrapping council tax, the Liberal Democrats will highlight the failure of the Conservatives to join in the nationwide campaign against unfair local taxation.

The Liberal Democrats are campaigning to scrap council tax. Sign the petition online at www.axethetax.org.uk

Edward Davey MP, the Liberal Democrat Local Government Spokesman, will claim that comments by the Conservative Shadow Chancellor, Oliver Letwin, suggest that the Tories may be planning to double council tax. Edward Davey called on the Conservatives to "join the council tax opposition" or reveal what their intentions are for council tax, adding:

"Liberal Democrats are leading the fight against this unfair council tax, but we'd be happy for the Conservatives to join the council tax opposition.

"The Conservatives' failure to be more robust on council tax is both damaging to the fight and frankly suspicious.

"The only indication of a fledgling Conservative policy is Oliver Letwin's statement that the Tories would increase the revenue councils raised locally and keep council tax. Unless the Conservative Shadow Chancellor can explain himself, this implies the Tories could double council tax.

"By doubling council tax, the Conservatives would take us back to the days of the unfair poll tax. It's time the Tories junked their addiction to unfair taxes.

"Liberal Democrats have set out our alternative to council tax. It's time for the Conservatives to come clean."

Notes to Editors

TORIES TO DOUBLE COUNCIL TAX?

"In the short term, [Oliver Letwin] said, they would come up with some answers to the problems caused by soaring council tax bills, which rose by an unprecedented average of 13 per cent this year. The Tories may propose that the share of council budgets raised locally is increased from 25 per cent to more than 50 per cent and the council tax is likely to remain under their plans." Oliver Letwin, as reported in The Independent 10, December 2003.

The Audit Commission has implicitly rubbished the Conservative plans: "Altering the balance of funding between national and local sources of finance cannot be achieved by simply transferring costs from national taxation to council tax. This would only ...increase the council tax even further." (Audit Commission, Council Tax Increases 2003/04: Why were they so high? 04 December 2003).