Liberal Democrats campaign on council tax abolition
The Liberal Democrats launch their local election campaign today, with the abolition of the council tax as the centrepiece under the slogan “Axe the Tax”.
Along with elections to the European Parliament and the Greater London Assembly, all members of all Welsh District Councils, Metropolitan Borough Councils and a number of Unitary Authorities and English District Councils, and one third of the members of other Unitary Authorities and District Councils are up for re-election on June 10.
However, unlike the other parties, the Liberal Democrats are not launching a formal national manifesto today, but rather are highlighting a series of local promises made by councillors, reflecting the party’s federal structure and strong council representation.
Charles Kennedy’s party believes that focusing on its record of achievement in local government will impress voters. As such, the Liberal Democrats’ local campaign stands in stark contrast to their European Parliament election message – launched last week – in which the party is urging the public to vote for them as the only party that consistently opposed the war in Iraq.
Mr Kennedy and his team are convinced that many disillusioned voters will look to use the EP poll to send the Government a message of disapproval about the conduct of the war.
The Liberal Democrats’ themes for the local elections include the environment (a second feature of their EP campaign), value-for-money public services, safe communities, economic regeneration and housing.
The party is promoting a “local income tax” to replace council tax, which will appeal to those who have recently been most vocal in their criticism of the tax: notably pensioners and other people on low incomes, who are nonetheless hit with high demands because of the kinds of property they live in. Levels of council tax have also risen sharply in recent years, with local authorities blaming the Government, which in turn insists that it continues to fund councils ever more generously.
The Green Party also launches its election campaign tomorrow. The party is defending two seats in the European Parliament – those of Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert – and a number of seats on local authorities and the GLA.
The Greens are campaigning under the slogan “Real Progress”. Commenting in Manchester on Monday ahead of the launch, Green spokesman Professor Jonathan Whitelegg declared, “The North West is a good place to launch our campaign because the three most deprived boroughs in the country are in the North West. These are precisely the places that need Green economic development to create sustainable prosperity.
“A Green industrial revolution will bring Real Progress to these places, but also to every other town and city in the country.”
The London Greens launch their campaign today.
Labour and the Conservatives have already launched their election campaigns; Labour the most recently, which launched its campaign yesterday.
