Council Tax Increase Will Hit Pensioners Hard

1.05.16pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 18th May 2004

Thanet Liberal Democrats have claimed that the latest increase in Council Tax is particularly bad news for pensioners. Councillor Trevor Emes said, "The 9.5% increase announced by Thanet Council will hit those on fixed incomes, such as pensioners, particularly hard".

Chairman of South Thanet Liberal Democrats, Guy Voizey, said, "This increase in Council Tax is particularly unfair on pensioners who have saved for their retirement. Just at the time that interest on their savings is at its lowest, they are being forced to pay more and more Council Tax".

Speaking in Maidstone recently, Ed Davey MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Local Government Minister, said, "The Council Tax is now the most unpopular tax in Britain today - because it's the most unfair tax. For Liberal Democrats, the only credible answer is to scrap Council Tax completely and replace it with a tax related to ability to pay - a local income tax".