SCP: Seniors congratulate Alex Salmond and the SNP
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Thursday, 04, Sep 2008 12:00
The Senior Citizens Party ( www.seniorcitizensparty.org.uk ) warmly congratulates Alex Salmond and the SNP for fulfilling their election promise to abolish the manifestly unfair Council Tax and replace it with an infinitely fairer Local Income Tax. "It is time to replace the "unfair" council tax," he said, " with an alternative, based on ability to pay, which he would lift 85,000 people from poverty and save the average Scottish family between £350 and £535 per year." The Senior Citizens Party has constantly supported a Local Income Tax, as have the Liberal Democrats, but both Labour and the Conservatives appear to be blind to common sense. "The simple facts are these," said Grahame Leon-Smith, Party Leader of the Senior Citizens Party: "Only 53% of the population pay Council Tax which means that 47% don't, and it penalises all those people who scrimp and save to buy their own homes and become independent of Government handouts and private landlords. We are therefore having to pay twice as much in order to pay for those who don't. It also discriminates against people on fixed incomes such as pensioners, who are getting poorer and poorer because their pensions have not been increased in line with average earnings for nearly 30 years. We believe that those people who are below the income tax threshold should not have to pay Council Tax at all, and all those who do pay income tax should make a reasonable contribution to their local community instead of sponging on the rest. Why do we always have to wait for the Scots to lead the way by providing what the voters want, whether on tuition fees, care for the elderly or a local income tax ?"
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
The Senior Citizens Party represents the largest demographic group in the UK, the 20.6 million people age 50 or over who make up 43% of the voting population.
For further information, a quote or an interview, please contact the Party Leader, Grahame Leon-Smith on +33(5) 4606 4608 (Direct Line) or Mobile: +33(6)0648 5214
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