Housing Minister Michael Gove has accused Labour of plans to hike up council tax on homes with larger gardens by using satellites to snoop on the size of their properties if the party is elected. The Mail has more.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party has dismissed the claims as “fantasy”, but Housing Secretary Michael Gove is standing firm that Labour will “hammer” families if the party wins the General Election.
Mr. Gove recently accused Labour of “using Big Brother tactics” after it emerged the Labour-run Welsh Government was using satellites to spy on homeowners living in properties with large gardens or that have undergone renovations and extensions.
As well as aerial and street view photography, data from planning applications, information about energy efficiency and statistics on school performance and crime rates are also being assessed as part of an overhaul of council tax bands being drawn up by the Senedd.
It means families who live in bigger, better insulated homes, in areas with good schools or lower incidence of crime, could be hit with higher council tax bills.
Although Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that a Labour Government will not raise taxes, he has also described the Welsh Government as a “blueprint” for “what Labour can do across the U.K.”
Mr. Gove said he believes Labour is looking with interest at the Welsh initiative, which has been postponed until 2028, to “road test” a similar system in England.
Moving homes up by even one band could seriously hit homeowners’ finances.
Bumping a Band D home in England, for example, which currently pays £2,171 a year council tax, into the next Band E, would amount to nearly £500 more a year.
He said: “Straight from the same old Labour playbook, these Big Brother tactics will punish families with higher bills simply for having good schools or lower crime.”
Worth reading in full.
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Ah, the illusion of choice they strive to present. Wonderful, isn’t it?!
This seems to be in the realm of land use and Natural Capital assets which is a government and UN sustainability 2030 thing regardless of the dirty t-shirt the government wears for the next 5 years.
‘The Theft of the Commons’ as Iain Davis describes it.
I would be interested to see a UN analysis to justify shifting millions from low population density to high density places.
It is all a bit at a time.
Ridiculous increases to fuel bills which, whoops a daisy increases the cost of living, penalties for just driving. Right, next up we will properly crater the living standards of the moderately well off and charge them an absolute fortune for having the nerve to even buy a property – well they should have thought about that before sending their children to private schools.
Next up will be the holiday tax because of course the Very Important People are always too busy for holidays and their “trips abroad” are really “business meetings.”
Food will have to be looked at so a meat tax is inevitable. We can’t have people looking after their health when there are warehouses full of mRNA
poisons“vaccines” for just that purpose.And as Billy’s new brew is due for release this winter we might as well have a gym tax – there’s plenty of room in the 15 minute
ghettoscities for those who want some exercise but there will be supplementary taxes for walking / running shoes. You don’t exercise? Right supplementary “leisure at home tax.”Woodburner eh? Ah that will be an extra £thou to help clean the air.
The shit is going to hit the fan before Christmas mark my words.
“Oh look these people have some very nice Petunia’s and a couple of rather large blue Hydrangea’s in their lovely front garden with some tidy mono blocks on their drive, with a nice grey Mazda C3 sitting on them. They can surely afford more of a council tax bill than the single mum with a garden full of weeds and a smell of cannabis emanating from the property. —-Hammer them. ——The politics of envy is alive and well.——-In the new Labour Government this will become known as the Petunia Tax.
Surely nobody is still buying into all this BS? Oh, yeah, it seems most still are.
instead Of the Tories just doing yah-boo they should explain why such proposals would be wrong. There have been so many Tory tax changes which are economically inefficient they are not entitled to respond unless they give a full analysis.
apart from any other issue, Tory councils have already loaded householders with large additional charges with no apparent benefits; quite the reverse.
Gove? Do me a favour. What a failure.
i think most political operatives have a strong but irrational view of their competence and achievements. Surely Give no less than any other.
he will be rewarded by the Starmer Remainer for services to screwing Brexit. If he had been more successful over the referee dum he might have been enobled before now.
As Shakespeare put it “From fairest things we desire increase that thereby beauties rose might never die”. Such a tactic will be an attack on desire and free enterprise.
What they don’t do is provide value for the money they take off you. So I have to own a pickup but have to go to a commercial dump and pay to get rid of my green waste let alone the cost of a pick up and trailer. Larger places already have additional costs.
Kiernocchio has not insisted that a Labour Government will not raise taxes, his party line is “no income tax, NI or VAT rises for working people”. Remember Gordon Brown’s Stealth Taxes that were banged onto anything that moved or was immobile?
Note the wording: “working people” and watch your laughably small state pension disappear. Also, Kiernocchio is not keeping the triple lock, so don’t expect to ever see another rise in pensions in your lifetime.
I had a look through the unbielievable, childishly scribbled, Labour Manifesto yesterday. It’s a fantasy land without the charm of The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. It does have a similarity however, Cowardly Lion (Millibacon), The Foul Mouthed Witch (obvious) and their leader The Flat Pack Wardrobe.
It claims that a brand new Nursery, presumably staffed and open 5 days a week costs £11,666.66. It states that they will open 3,000 new Nurseries for £35 million. You thought Ikier tried to throw Diane Abbacus out didn’t you?
Before you vote, have a look at the fantasy document, consider what Labour are not saying. Take note of the fact they say “The time for reviews is over” as they introduce 16 new reviews in advance of implementing them. Bear in mind that anything they put in the manifesto cannot be blocked by The Lords or Parliament.
Then vote accordingly. Deny Labour your vote. They can’t win if you don’t vote for them.
Which part of the USA is that Shutterstock picture from!