Hundreds in Islington back "Scrap the Tax" protest

12.00.00am GMT Wed 17th Mar 2004

Hundreds of local people have responded to the Lib Dem's call for the Labour Government to scrap unfair council tax. The Lib Dems recently launched a petition to gather support for their campaign to "Axe the Tax", which calls on Tony Blair to axe the council tax and replace it with a fairer system based on the ability to pay. Lib Dem Bridget Fox, who is leading the campaign, said: "Petition slips backing our campaign to axe the tax have been flooding back. We have been very encouraged by the response - it's clear that many local people want to see this unfair tax scrapped. "Many of Islington's pensioners live in houses that are now worth hundreds of times what they paid for them but still struggle to make ends meet, let alone pay council tax bills which are hugely disproportionate to their income. It's ridiculous that pensioners can pay as much as top businessmen or lawyers on very high salaries! "By keeping this tax Labour are letting down many of Islington's most vulnerable people, especially local pensioners. People agree with us that Council Tax is an unfair tax - it's got to go!" The Lib Dems propose replacing the Council Tax with a system of local income tax which would be based on the ability to pay rather than on how much your house is worth. An independent study recently released by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) supports the Liberal Democrat proposals for local income tax as a viable alternative to council tax.