Cameron's Council Tax plans are half baked says Huhne

3.15.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 13th Nov 2007

Council tax is one of the most unfair taxes - Chris Huhne MP

Commenting on David Cameron's proposal that any council wanting to raise council tax above a level determined by ministers in London should call a local referendum before they do so, Liberal Democrat leadership contender Chris Huhne said, "Half-baked half-measures fail either to make council tax fairer, or give power to local communities. We need to axe the council tax entirely, and replace it with a local income tax based on ability to pay. And we need fair votes for councils so that local people can boot out bad councils more easily.

The cost of a local referendum is so high that there would be very little difference between council tax capping and Cameron's plan. Instead, we need more responsible councils elected fairly with more powers to serve their local areas."

Liberal Democrats believe that Council tax is one of the most unfair and least progressive taxes. We need to axe the council tax and replace it with a local income tax based on the ability to pay."