James Cleverly MP has warned that Andy Burnham and John Healey intend to scrap the single person council tax discount when Parliament returns from recess, describing the move as a ‘widows tax’.
Writing in an opinion piece, Cleverly notes that one of the Government’s first acts in office was to strip the winter fuel payment from millions of pensioners. He claims Labour has already scrapped the single person discount for its new council tax surcharge and is now eyeing up axing the discount on main council tax bills as well.
Broken tax promise
Cleverly recalls that Labour stood at the general election promising not to raise taxes, a promise he says Rachel Reeves broke within months. He argues that Burnham and Healey are “coming back for more” and that the cost will be paid “on the backs of widows” who rely on the single person discount.
He describes these as “stealth tax rises” straight out of the Labour playbook, noting that councils across the country are already pushing up council tax while changes to business rates have “decimated our high streets”.
Impact on households
Cleverly argues that a widow does not choose their circumstances and would not place the same demand on council services as a family, yet Labour would charge them the same as a family of four. “Losing your other half is not a choice and it should not be punished with higher taxes,” he writes.
He stresses this is not a niche issue affecting only widows. Some 8.6 million households across the United Kingdom claim the single person discount — one home in three. It is worth £598 on an average council tax bill, meaning the change would amount to a £4 billion tax raid nationally.
Conservative alternative
Cleverly notes it was the Conservatives who created the discount in 1993, and claims they stopped John Healey making it optional in 2012 and will stop him again.
He sets out an alternative, saying the Conservatives have shown how the Government could save billions without taxing widows — by getting a grip on the welfare bill and returning the civil service to 2016 levels. He concludes that John Healey could rule the tax hike out tomorrow, and the fact that he has not “tells you exactly what is coming”.
