Monday, March 14, 2005

Pensioners Foum Debate

Interesting Debate. Cllr Harris was there from Labour and Cllr Vinson from the Liberals. We discussed the possible introduction of free green waste (which seemed popular), the level of Council Tax (which is of course far too high) and whether students should pay, nursing care, housing, council rents, litter and the appalling state of the roads and pavements. I seemed to be the only one sticking up for students (which made me a bit unpopular).

I made the point that the Conservatives want low Council Tax and in our Council budget proposals called for a 0% increase this year and last year. I also talked about Conservative tax cuts for pensioners. We would introduce a new 50% Council Tax discount for pensioners over 65. This seemed popular too. It avoids all the difficulties associated with the Liberal's idea of a local income tax and is actually a TAX CUT rather than simply shifting the tax burden around.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Council tax is far too high in Southampton. It is about time that people woke upto this fact.

Thank you for sticking up for students.I have loads of respect for the elderly yet they seem to forget that they were young once too. A lot of students do stay in Southampton which boosts the economy.

I really dont mind OAPS having cheaper council tax as at the end of the day they can't afford huge rises.