Keir Starmer fails to name one tax he would cut
A Conservative MP is bringing a petition to Parliament protesting about an eyewatering record 231 percent council tax rise in his constituency by a Labour-Lib Dem-run council.
Morecambe and Lunesdale MP David Morris has told Express.co.uk that the shocking events at Morecambe Town Council resulted from a Lib Dem-Labour pact with a "horror" tax rise, act as a warning about "what will happen to your taxes if Keir Starmer wins power".
He went on: "You can’t trust Labour and Liberals with your money giving the biggest tax hike in the country last year of 231 percent, last year, they never learn."
Using parliamentary privilege in a Westminster Hall debate last week, Mr Morris detailed how Morecambe Town Council with joint Labour and Lib Dems chairs raised the council's budget by 231 percent, even though it technically should not be allowed to do that under the law.
The 231 percent rise followed increases in the previous two years of 50 percent and 66 percent.
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READ MORE: Keir Starmer told he’s 'woolly' and 'vague' in brutal BBC Breakfast interview
David Morris has raised concerns about a massive 231% council tax rise by a local council (Image: CONSERVATIVE PARTY)
Sir Keir has suggested that a Labour government under his leadership might cut taxes but when questioned has not been able to say which one he would reduce.
Mr Morris believes that while Morecambe Town Council is the lowest rung of government as a parish council, the way it has used technicalities to massively increase its tax take is a warning sign of how Labour would act in Westminster.
In Parliament, he explained the stunning history of the record tax rise in Morecambe and how taxpayers have effectively been charged twice.
He said: "The council raised ￡1million to set up a community fund in the hope that that ￡1million would be ringfenced to buy a parcel of land on the site of Frontierland, a former funfair. The land is already owned by the taxpayer. It is owned by Lancaster City Council, which purchased it for a reported ￡3million. The land is not for sale, so it is highly unlikely in any event that it would be undersold. This is double taxation, plain and simple."
Mr Morris noted that this year the council had claimed to make a 33 percent tax cut but had, in fact, held on to the ￡1million and in his view delivered a 22 percent rise with the precept increasing from ￡739,000 to this years ￡951,384.
Mr Morris said: "The Town Council is not fit for purpose and should be wound up. I will be writing to my constituents with my plan of what can be done about this rip-off in the very near future."
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Morecambe Town Hall is where a 231% council tax rise was agreed (Image: Supplied)
The ￡1million was meant to buy a parcel of land called "the Frontier Land" which was a theme park and is already own by the taxpayer.
Councils are supposed to carry out referendums if they want to increase their council tax take by more than the statutory limit.
But Mr Morris said: "The town council did not carry out a referendum; it carried out an afternoon stall survey on the local prom. It cannot be verified whether any local people were present."
Mr Morris as also asked ministers to look into whether the 231 percent increase was even lawful.
The council had also apparently taken over control of weeding not just in morecambe but rhe entire city of Lancaster district with Lib Dems acting as volunteers.
Mr Morris said: "Taxpayers of Morecambe are now subsidising the weeding service of the whole of Lancaster. That is hundreds of square miles outside Morecambe. It gets ￡63,295.67 from the county, but has spent ￡80,000 on equipment and ￡30,680 on casual staff—a loss of ￡48,385, or thereabouts."
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The row has dominated the headlines in Mr Morris's corner of Lancashire.
After Mr Morris's debate in Parliament last week, spokesman for Morecambe Town Council said: "Last year Morecambe Town Council invited Mr Morris to come and discuss its ongoing funding and the issues facing the town and parish council sector more generally. The Government's focus on localism continues to place further burden and expectation on those councils to deliver increased services while other tiers of local authority are facing repeated cuts in central government funding (for example, our principal authority, Lancaster City Council, has experienced a 40 percent cut in funding since 2008-09.). To date the council has not received a response, but it extends that invitation publicly once again.
“In direct response to Mr Morris’s statement: the reason for such a substantial rise last year was solely to create the Community Action Fund for a potential community project on the former Frontierland site. Following council elections in May 2023, a new administration with an alternative vision entered post and resolved not to proceed with that particular project.
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"With the reason for raising those funds no longer applicable, the council was advised by the National Association of Local Councils that it was reasonable to reallocate funds and – having conducted a public consultation ahead of the original project – that it would be sensible to consult the public again ahead of any significant expenditure of those funds.
"It is important to note that if the precept hadn’t been raised for the Community Action Fund, residents would still have seen a significant rise in last year’s precept to account for the growth of the council’s services."
The council added that the proposed charge on an average band D property still works out as ￡24.20 less than the national average for councils with a similar precept.
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