Greens call for councils to be exempt from huge tax rises
As a local Councillor, I was excited to see extra funding for local government announced for next year, but it appears that that could be lost immediately through the increases to employer national insurance contributions. With well over 1000 employees, Reading Borough Council could be easily looking at a tax rise of more than £1million a year. Reading Greens are calling on Rachel Reeves to end this silliness and exempt local authorities immediately.
New government as trustworthy as the old one
During the election campaign Labour told us that they wouldn’t raise taxes or extend austerity. The trick was to guess which bit wasn’t true given the obvious state of the country’s finances. As it turns out, neither was true. We got record taxes and more austerity.
Tax wealth not jobs
Hopes that Labour would at least provide a competent government seem to be fading fast. Reading Greens have for years argued for local government to be financed properly, and after more than a decade of Reading Labour blaming the Tories for RBC’s inability to even collect the bins on time, we expect they would agree. The difference is where the money for public services should come from. While Labour now seem okay with taxing jobs, freezing pensioners, and impoverishing children, we would tax wealth and crack down on tax avoidance by the super-rich.
Invest for the future
I was disappointed, but not surprised, to see the Chancellor putting up bus fares. Greens want investment in cheaper public transport that we can afford to get on. In Reading, we’ve had years of cycle lanes to nowhere, bus lanes that buses can’t reach, and talk of improvements that never happen. And there was nothing in the budget that suggested Labour are remotely serious about climate action.
Invest for now
Ultimately, I’m surprised by how the huge tax increases seem to have got local government so little. I’m left in fear for the council’s finances and outraged that Starmer’s ‘tough choices’ have continued the great Tory tradition of punching down on workers and the vulnerable rather than taking on the Labour donors and the super-rich.
As Lord Farquaard said, “Some of you may die, but it’s a sacrifice I am willing to make.”
Greens are the second largest party in Reading
As the main opposition party on Labour-run Reading Council Green councillors will continue to work constructively to get the best for Reading residents. There are now eight Green Party councillors and we have more councillors than the Conservatives and Lib Dems combined. We will keep working hard all year round on the issues that matter to residents.
If you’re keen on being part of the change in Reading, get involved and help us make Reading fairer, greener and cleaner: reading.greenparty.org.uk/get-involved
By Councillor Dave McElroy (Green Party, Redlands Ward)
