Rupert says "Council Tax - what do Labour and the Tories really think?"

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 15th Mar 2005

Labour and the Tories. Different views but strangely the same

Given that the Labour run Borough Council and the Tory controlled County Council have seen fit to raise Council Tax for the coming year by three times the rate of inflation just prior to the general election, it seems worth pointing out to voters as they enter the polling booth where the parties stand on council tax:

Labour - who are quite happy to keep council tax as it is. Laura Moffat MP, commenting on the recent rise told the Observer on 18th February said: "It's not an outrageous amount." Labour have been quite happy to let council tax rise as they have no idea of how to replace it. But they are proposing re-banding which could significantly alter and increase the amount people pay.

Conservative - who invented the tax after the even more disastrous Poll Tax. The Tories control West Sussex County Council which has been responsible for monumental rise in their element of the tax which has hit Crawley people hard.

Liberal Democrats - who have realised the deep injustice of the tax. They have developed an alternative - Local Income tax. This would be based on the ability to pay, and would drastically reduce bills. For example, a family earning £30,000 currently paying £1,500 a year in council tax would see their bills cut in half. And if you don't pay income tax, as many pensioners don't, you'll pay nothing at all.

If you want to know how much you would pay under the Liberal Democrats Local Income Tax then check out www.axethetax.co.uk. The website enables you to use your own personal figures to find out what you would pay in a totally impartial way. Don't just listen to what your local politician says check it out from a completely unbiased source!