KEMI BADENOCH: Labour's council tax rises are a cynical raid on the very people who keep this country going
Rachel Reeves 's business-squeezing budget has led to rising unemployment, lower growth and a stagnant economy.
The latest estimates suggest her economic mismanagement has blown a £50billion hole in the public finances.
And, as ever, Labour's answer to their problems is even more tax rises.
Despite promising to freeze it before the election, council tax is going through the roof under Labour. In the small print of the Spending Review it says that council tax bills are set to rise by £700 on an average Band D home over this Parliament.
But this isn't enough for Rachel Reeves.
In Wales, Labour is already planning higher council tax bands to get after 'property wealth'. They're trialling something even more dangerous – re-valuing homes to push them into higher council tax bands. They've developed a database to work out how much your home should be taxed - tax tech which could then be deployed in England by the Valuation Office Agency.
If you've worked hard, improved your home, or simply live in a nice area, your bills could soar. And Starmer has called Wales his 'blueprint', so you can bet it'll be coming to England next.
Labour's friends in the think-tank world want to go one step further and are pushing for a 'Land Value Tax'. Not for the big property developers, but an old Jeremy Corbyn policy designed to tax not just your home, but the land it sits on. Tough luck if you've got a garden or a nice view.
There would be no discount for single people. Widows and widowers would be hammered. And pensioners would be forced to pay this new bill even after death – a 'pay-as-you-die' tax that's basically inheritance tax in disguise.
The Conservatives were pressured for 14 years to do this, and we refused. We understood then, as we do now, that hard-working families cannot afford to be taxed out of their homes.
Labour doesn't care. They see your home as just another line in the ledger that they can tax whenever they run out of money. Given their record so far, this will be often.
Reform are no better, creating new economic black holes as they promise billions in welfare spending with no plan to pay for any of it.
I will fight this with everything I have. Because a home is more than bricks and mortar. It is the reward for years of hard work, saving, and sacrifice. It is security for our families. And it should not be treated like a cash machine for the Chancellor.
Labour's land tax will be nothing more than a cynical raid on the very people who keep this country going.
Under my leadership, the Conservatives will always defend property rights, sound money and low taxes.
We will back the makers in this country – the people who do the right thing, pay their way, and just want to get on. And we will not stand by while Labour taxes your home to the hilt.
We will oppose the Government if they try and punish those families and pensioners who have worked hard, and saved and invested in their homes.
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