Council Tax - unfair and must be scrapped says Jo

8.25.42pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 5th Jul 2005

Jo Swinson is continuing the campaign to scrap the unfair Council Tax

Jo Swinson MP is continuing her campaign against the unfair council tax, and has lent vocal support to the case for a local income tax to replace the current system.

Speaking in a House of Commons debate yesterday, Jo branded council tax an unfair system, while stating that large-scale changes are needed to reform local taxation.

In the debate, Jo argued, "The main problem with the current system is that it bears no relation whatsoever to people's ability to pay.

"It is a shocking state of affairs that the poorest people pay 6 per cent. of their income in council tax but the richest pay just 1.5 per cent.

"The problem is the unfairness of the system, which will not be solved by further complicating the council tax through handouts and making special cases. Instead, the best solution is a local income tax."

Last year Jo Swinson ran a petition in East Dunbartonshire which collected hundreds of signatures in favour of scrapping the Council Tax and replacing it with an income-based alternative.

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View the text in Hansard of Jo's contribution to the debate