Starmer backs Council Tax freeze, one month after Southwark Labour vote against Lib Dem proposal to freeze Council Tax

The national Labour Party has announced it would freeze council tax this year if it were in government.

This announcement comes one month after Labour councillors in Southwark voted against a council tax freeze at this year’s budget meeting.

The Lib Dem group proposed an amendment to the budget that could have frozen council tax bills for residents over the next financial year.

Labour members unanimously voted against the proposal.

Leader of the Southwark Liberal Democrats Cllr Victor Chamberlain said, “One month ago Labour passed a budget that hiked council tax bills by the maximum amount, despite promising residents of Southwark they would ‘keep council tax low’. Despite the Tory squeeze, our Lib Dem group put forward a fully costed, legal and implementable amendment that showed Labour they could freeze council tax by cutting down on council waste. Labour members not only voted against our proposal, they derided the very idea of freezing council tax.

And yet, now, the national Labour Party say they would freeze council tax if they were in government. Labour had the chance to do exactly this in Southwark and every single Labour member enthusiastically turned this down. How does the Labour Party expect any voters to take their commitments seriously?”