29 March 2023 , 21:30
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Keir Starmer will tomorrow unveil a major promise to freeze council tax bills.
Launching Labour’s local election campaign in Swindon, it is the “party of lower taxes for working people”.
As households face a hike in bills on Saturday, he will say he would use a windfall tax on oil and gas giants to stop them rising this year if he was in power.
Average council tax bills are set to exceed £2,000 for the first time as families are clobbered with a 5.1% increase.
The average Band D council tax set by local authorities in England for 2023-24 will be £2,065 - a rise of £99 on the 2022-23 figure of £1,966.
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has allowed cash-strapped councils to bring in the whopping increases as they struggle with government cuts.
Previously, town, city and county halls could only increase bills by 3% without a referendum.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has allowed local authorities to hike council tax bills (Paul Marriott/REX/Shutterstock)At Labour’s local election launch on Thursday, Mr Starmer will say: “If there was a Labour Government, you could take that council tax rise you just got and rip it up.”
Taking aim at Rishi Sunak’s plan to hand a tax cut to those with the biggest pension pots, he will say: “A Labour Government would freeze your council tax this year - that's our choice.
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“A tax cut for the many, not just for the top 1%. So take this message to every doorstep in your community: Labour is the party of lower taxes for working people.
“That’s the difference we can make. That’s the choice in May. A better Britain.”
Mr Starmer will also pledge to keep energy bills lower for good by insulating 19 million homes.
Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner will launch Labour's local election campaign alongside Rachel Reeves (Getty Images)“We’ve got to send a message to this Government: What they’ve delivered to our country after 13 years in power is nowhere near good enough,” he will tell party supporters.
“Just look around Britain. Seven million on NHS waiting lists. Crime – totally unpunished. The biggest hit to living standards – the cash in your pocket – on record.
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“Does anyone honestly think that Britain can’t do better than this?”
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He will add: “We’ve got to get out there and show people the difference Labour can make. Let them see our hunger for change.
“We have to prove that this suffocating cost of living crisis, the path of decline the Tories have set Britain on, the endless sticking plaster politics, is not inevitable. There is a choice.”
Voters will go to the polls on May 4. In total, 8,141 council seats are up for grabs in 230 councils across England.
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