Tory & Labour unite to stop Council Tax Debate

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 14th Oct 2003

Conservative and Labour Councillors on Northampton Borough Council last night voted together to stop the Council debating a Liberal Democrat motion calling for an end to the Council Tax and it's replacement with a Local Income Tax.

Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson for Northampton North and Kingsley Ward Councillor Andrew Simpson who proposed the motion said "I can't understand why the Tories and Labour didn't want to debate this important issue - it seems they are just burying their heads in the sand and ignoring the increasing public anger over the continual rising levels of council tax."

Councillor Simpson cited the example of Tory controlled Kent County Council who are trying to establish a lower rate of council tax for pensioners that will not be increased above the level of inflation.

"You would have thought that the Conservatives might try and learn something from their colleagues in other areas yet last night they simply stopped the debate and even prevented my colleagues from putting forward any further arguments for an alternative"

Liberal Democrats are calling for the Council Tax to be replaced by a Local Income Tax based on a persons' ability to pay. They propose a tax of around 3% on incomes which will mean around 70% of the population will pay less than they do now.