CEP: A council tax freeze in Scotland, a council tax hike in England

Monday, 21, Sep 2009 09:17

'The background to the announcement by the Finance Secretary to the Scottish Parliament John Sweeney that householders in Scotland will have their council tax bills frozen until 2012 raises fundamental questions about justice and fairness and the whole point and purpose of the Union' says John Stanhope, member of the National Council of the Campaign for an English Parliament writing in his blog to CEP members in the Midlands

'The background to it is a £210 million deal to be funded by England's taxpayers which has been worked out between the Scottish Parliament and the UK Treasury headed by Alistair Darling, MP for Edinburgh South West and supervised by Gordon Brown MP for Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath. In England meanwhile council tax bills are set to rise by almost £50 for an average property next year in order to plug a £2.5 billion black hole in local authority finances caused by the economic downturn. An economic downturn caused in large part by the policies of both men.

There are two basic issues here,' states Mr Stanhope. 'The English taxpayer is as much a member of the British state as any Scot and should therefore be treated equally. We look to our government for fairness. Why is it not forthcoming? Mr Brown signed the 'Scottish claim of Right' in March 1989 in which he and 300 other Scottish politicians pledged 'to make the interests of the Scottish nation paramount in everything we say and do'. Is he and Mr Darling exploiting their control of UK finances, 85% of which are produced by the English population, to provide a better deal for Scotland?

'Secondly, where are our English MPs? They are elected by their English constituents to represent their interests. Yet they are always as silent as the grave on matters like this. By the time of the London Olympics Scottish families will be paying the same amount of council tax as they were in 2007. In England it may even have doubled. The injustice is beyond comprehension.'

At its September meeting in Birmingham on Saturday the 19th the CEP National Council confirmed its arrangements for the meeting 'The Future of England' in the House of Commons on November 18th, the day of the Queen's Speech at which matters such as this will be discussed.

Contacts:

Michael Knowles CEP Media Unit

Tel: 01260 271139 email: michae-knowles@tiscali.co.uk