Westminster's Conservative Group Leader Cllr Paul Swaddle today spoke out against the rising cost of Labour. Paul explains
Labour’s latest plans are a deeply worrying development for homeowners - not just here in Westminster, but across the country. Behind slogans of ‘fiscal responsibility’ and ‘repairing public finances’ Labour is gearing up to squeeze every penny it can from those who have worked hard to buy their own homes.
Their record is already clear: Labour councils, including here in Westminster, are pushing council tax up to the maximum legal limit year after year and ignoring the unbearable strain this puts on household budgets.
Now Rachel Reeves is looking at a new ‘proportional property tax’ to replace stamp duty on main homes. That would mean an annual charge of 0.54% or more on homes worth over £500,000 - punishing aspiration, destabilising the housing market, and hitting ordinary families who’ve saved and stretched to get on the property ladder.
To put that in perspective, in Westminster, where the average home sells for £1 million, even modest properties would face thousands of pounds in new yearly taxes. Families already struggling with the cost of living would be hit yet again.
Labour says it won’t raise income tax or VAT, but these stealth taxes on homes prove otherwise.Under Labour, nothing is safe: not your homes, your jobs or your pension.
Conservative voices, locally and nationally, will continue to stand up against these damaging plans and put the needs of local people first, fighting for a council tax freeze, protecting household budgets, and defending the right to own your home without being taxed out of it.
