reply from MP to snotty council tax letter
Discussion
To his credit, Tim Collins has replied very promptly to my snotty letter complaining about council tax.
If the tories arent careful, they will destroy the perception of MPs being idle, self serving, double talking, scum sucking, $hit bags,.. that Labour have nurtured so carefully.
Heres what he said.
Dear Mr Turbo,
Thank you for your recent fax.
I agree with you entirely that the council tax rises being contemplated this year are utterly unacceptable, and will be hugely painful for many people, including you.
As you may have seen from the extensive coverage of this issue in recent days in both the newspapers and television news programmes, this is a nationwide problem. Across the country people are facing the biggest council tax rises since the tax was introduced more than a decade ago.
In Cumbria's case, while I would certainly not defend every spending decision taken either by the County or the District Council, it's worth noting that the principal reason for these rises lies in Whitehall not County Hall. The Government has given our county £13 million extra this year, but has legally required it to increase spending by £25 million. Furthermore, Ministers have taken £5 million for road maintenance away from Cumbria.
This £17 million gap (25+5 - 13) represents a 13% rise on council tax. The actual rise of 12% is marginally lower only because the County Council has chosen to replace only some, not all, of the road maintenance cuts with money from local council taxpayers.
Penrith MP David Maclean and I are seeking to work with Cumbrians of all parties and of none to persuade the Government to change its mind. If Ministers stick with these decisions, then these skyscraping council tax rises will be seen as yet more of Gordon Brown's stealth taxes which are increasingly hitting so many so hard.
Finally, it may interest you to know that Kendal has not been under Conservative control for over a decade and that it is in fact the Liberal Democrats who currently hold the majority of the town's council seats.
Thanks again for writing.
Yours
TIM COLLINS MP
If the tories arent careful, they will destroy the perception of MPs being idle, self serving, double talking, scum sucking, $hit bags,.. that Labour have nurtured so carefully.
Heres what he said.
Dear Mr Turbo,
Thank you for your recent fax.
I agree with you entirely that the council tax rises being contemplated this year are utterly unacceptable, and will be hugely painful for many people, including you.
As you may have seen from the extensive coverage of this issue in recent days in both the newspapers and television news programmes, this is a nationwide problem. Across the country people are facing the biggest council tax rises since the tax was introduced more than a decade ago.
In Cumbria's case, while I would certainly not defend every spending decision taken either by the County or the District Council, it's worth noting that the principal reason for these rises lies in Whitehall not County Hall. The Government has given our county £13 million extra this year, but has legally required it to increase spending by £25 million. Furthermore, Ministers have taken £5 million for road maintenance away from Cumbria.
This £17 million gap (25+5 - 13) represents a 13% rise on council tax. The actual rise of 12% is marginally lower only because the County Council has chosen to replace only some, not all, of the road maintenance cuts with money from local council taxpayers.
Penrith MP David Maclean and I are seeking to work with Cumbrians of all parties and of none to persuade the Government to change its mind. If Ministers stick with these decisions, then these skyscraping council tax rises will be seen as yet more of Gordon Brown's stealth taxes which are increasingly hitting so many so hard.
Finally, it may interest you to know that Kendal has not been under Conservative control for over a decade and that it is in fact the Liberal Democrats who currently hold the majority of the town's council seats.
Thanks again for writing.
Yours
TIM COLLINS MP
He forgot to mention that the current Government are merely sticking to the same unfair rules that the Conservative Government put in place.
It still urks me that there can be major taxation without any link to ability to pay and I am thoroughly pissed off with my Council Tax having to subsidise other councils who levy a lower tax.
It still urks me that there can be major taxation without any link to ability to pay and I am thoroughly pissed off with my Council Tax having to subsidise other councils who levy a lower tax.
gnomesmith said: He forgot to mention that the current Government are merely sticking to the same unfair rules that the Conservative Government put in place.
It still urks me that there can be major taxation without any link to ability to pay and I am thoroughly pissed off with my Council Tax having to subsidise other councils who levy a lower tax.
It irks me that taxation IS linked to ability to pay. If you earn more, you should be able to keep more, not the other way around.
... eh ? if you earn more you do keep more. You may pay a bigger % of it but at the end of the day you take home more dosh.
I think its entirely fair to pay more as a proportion if you earn more. I'm proud to live in a country that gives a toss about elderly, ill or disabled people. Some countries don't.
After all there go I but for the grace of God...
[Damn, I'm not religeous at all but couldn't help using this one as its so apt]
I think its entirely fair to pay more as a proportion if you earn more. I'm proud to live in a country that gives a toss about elderly, ill or disabled people. Some countries don't.
After all there go I but for the grace of God...
[Damn, I'm not religeous at all but couldn't help using this one as its so apt]
Now I'm not defending the tax (I would like to see it abolished and it put on income tax instead) and certainly not the current rises but I have to dispute you one this.
gnomesmith said: He forgot to mention that the current Government are merely sticking to the same unfair rules that the Conservative Government put in place.
It still urks me that there can be major taxation without any link to ability to pay and I am thoroughly pissed off with my Council Tax having to subsidise other councils who levy a lower tax.
The cost of the tax is relative to the size/value of your house. The only way this is not relative to how much you can afford is if you have been given the house or are living in a house that is way under what you could afford (not many people do this).
So I would have to say that, although not dirrectly related to your income, it has a basis in how much you should be able to afford
The council tax costs should also have been part of your decision about which property you could afford to live in.
That house could be occupied by one wage earner or a whole bunch of them. One person uses fewer services than a group. The council tax is the same for a couple as a tribe.
That is the variable that I base my statement upon, where is the flaw in my logic?
CT Valuation is not directly related to the size of a property only its value which depends upon many other variables.
>> Edited by gnomesmith on Thursday 13th March 19:09
That is the variable that I base my statement upon, where is the flaw in my logic?
CT Valuation is not directly related to the size of a property only its value which depends upon many other variables.
>> Edited by gnomesmith on Thursday 13th March 19:09
gnomesmith said: That house could be occupied by one wage earner or a whole bunch of them. One person uses fewer services than a group. The council tax is the same for a couple as a tribe.
My local councel give me a 25% reduction for single occupancy but I dont think there is a sliding rule depending how many live in the property.
Alex said:
It irks me that taxation IS linked to ability to pay. If you earn more, you should be able to keep more, not the other way around.
Well said Alex, although if I might just postulate on this a tad more...
Certainly, Sir Ken of Belvedere is right to question the justice of council tax - to some extent.
With income tax, more specifically, I do passionately object to the negative incentive effects of uncapped tax at the marginal rates.
It's as immoral in my book to pay tax on all income, without end, as it is to expect a very low income household to pay sky high council tax just by virtue of an act of inheritance or other, adverse economic misfortune {sell the house, though?}; I believe the positive multiplier effects of unfettered income above a certain level (debatable in itself) would create so much unbelievable wealth via private sector investments and other components of aggregate demand that this nation would fly!
We have to get back to a form of Raegonomics pretty damn quick before the over constraining hand of excessive regulatory socialism completely chokes off the oxygen of achievable, sustainable growth and prosperity.
gnomesmith said: He forgot to mention that the current Government are merely sticking to the same unfair rules that the Conservative Government put in place.
It still urks me that there can be major taxation without any link to ability to pay and I am thoroughly pissed off with my Council Tax having to subsidise other councils who levy a lower tax.
Well we had a system called the Community Charge in which everyone paid .... unfortunately it got abolished.
The major problem at present is that the government had redistributed money away from 'richer' areas and to 'poorer' areas while at the same time expecting councils to increase spending on areas such as education.
The maths do not add up. The only way that can happen is if councils increase tax and lay people off.
Problem is people see the bills coming from the councila nd blame them. The blame should be fairly and squarely laid at Gordon Browns door.
>> Edited by the Wiz on Friday 14th March 08:47
the Wiz said:
Problem is people see the bills coming from the councila nd blame them. The blame should be fairly and squarely laid at Gordon Browns door.
Yes but it is odious of various Tory spokesman to attribute that blame without admitting that it is exactly what their administration introduced and practiced.
In an earlier posting I deliberately choose the term couple as there is a single occupancy discount in CT. No other account is made for number of occupants or earners.
I agree with Derestrictor et al that there should be an incentive for people to strive for high earings without punative taxation, that has never been a point of issue with me.
To elaborate on my earlier comment. What I mean is that there should be a ceiling on income tax. Why should someone earning say £60k a year pay nearly £30k in tax? Some may say that the 'well-off' should help out the less fortunate, but my view is that by encouraging success, everyone benefits and the whole of society becomes wealthier. The British Chamber of Commerce and the Confederation of British Industry have this week both appealed to Gordon Brown not to raise taxes in the budget as this is destroying the UK's competitive advantage. The result will be that we ALL end up poorer; not much use to the disadvantaged...
Surely the problem fact is that the 40% tax bracket is TOO low @ £32500 ish. This isn't a lot of money for an average SE family of 4 with one breadwinner.
I am actually in favour of a higher (50%) bracket starting at 100K or so. Not because l wont be affected by it any time soon
, but this would be a good counterbalance for raising the 40% bracket.
As for council tax, well short of mass civil disobediance, l am very worried about where this is going to end up. Wait and see what the tax loading of yet another layer of bureaucratic nonsense does for you (EU). I don't see how this will ameliorate concerns over inefficiency/corruption do you?
I am actually in favour of a higher (50%) bracket starting at 100K or so. Not because l wont be affected by it any time soon
, but this would be a good counterbalance for raising the 40% bracket. As for council tax, well short of mass civil disobediance, l am very worried about where this is going to end up. Wait and see what the tax loading of yet another layer of bureaucratic nonsense does for you (EU). I don't see how this will ameliorate concerns over inefficiency/corruption do you?
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