Abolishing single person CT discount

[Iwishicouldflyhigh]

It won’t affect me, but this is really crap if Labour bring it in. I can’t imagine they will actually, it would affect so many people who already financially struggle from living alone.

AIBU to think this is DM stirring the pot?

Assuming that's an accurate report (ie from Hansard) She asked the question "Will she take this opportunity to reassure the House that the Government has no plans to increase council tax as they assured us before the election?" "Yes" means she is taking the opportunity to reassure the house. If the answer were that the Government possibly had plans to remove the single discount, the answer to the question would have been "No (she wouldn't take this opportunity)".

I am going by what she said, you appear to be going by what you think she said.

Kemi Badenoch said, " It’s been reported that the Secretary of State is being lobbied to increase council tax and remove discounts like the single occupant discount...."

This is a statement about what KB has heard reported.

The question KB asked was, "Will she take this opportunity to reassure the House that the Government has no plans to increase council tax as they assured us before the election?”

AR answered yes. Removing the single occupancy discount in not increasing council tax, it's making single occupants pay the full amount.

AR was asked by another MP to give a guarantee that the SOD would not be scrapped and she deflected.

"Yes" means she is taking the opportunity to reassure the house.

Only that Council Tax will not be increased. This is all she was asked, she was not specifically asked about abolishing any discounts.

If the answer were that the Government possibly had plans to remove the single discount, the answer to the question would have been "No (she wouldn't take this opportunity)".

No it wouldn't. She was not specifically asked about plans to abolish any discounts so had no need to reassure the House about this specific matter.

I know this all sounds ridiculously pedantic but we're talking about politicians here.

It looks like MN are happy for people to write any old lie as a thread title which I hadn't realised.

I can't speak from personal experience @FOJN because I'm not in London but I know from friends there that services are beyond terrible.

I don't want to post details of other people's situations on here as that's not for me to share but all I can say is although my council is a pretty shit for services I was shocked at how bad it is in London. Especially for vulnerable people services there seen to exist on paper only. That's statutory services. Voluntary and discretionary seem mixed and from what I've heard are a borough postcode lottery, so ok in some London boroughs but non existent in others.

It's obvious even without living there. For example the social cleansing of homeless Londoners. Many will have been paying council tax for years but when needing help, in this case housing, they've forced to leave family when at their most vulnerable and give up their jobs.

I don't know the council tax for all London boroughs but my friend's is similar to mine (I'm in the SE but not London) and it's high.

Separately, and maybe related to poor services in London or maybe not but relevant anyway for a council tax thread, is that the highest pensioner poverty is in London.

You haven’t made any arguments about it. That’s the point. It’s a silly throw away attempt at an insult.

Jeez what attracts people like you to forums? Either answer the question or ignore it. Snidey comments not needed.

It’s been pointed out by me and others what she actually said. She ruled them both out. It’s a real contortion to say she didn’t.

Also relevant to London (and the SE) is because of the extreme inequality there, council tax banding especially if redone based on current values could see a low earner renting a 1 bedroom slum (like below) in a higher band, than an affluent dual income owner occupier household in a house in another part of the UK.

news.sky.com/story/labour-mp-defends-himself-as-renters-champion-after-poor-conditions-found-in-his-properties-13206274

Please see the two posts at 13.05 which explain why your interpretation of what AR said is incorrect.

All the local and national newspapers who have reported the story have said she did not rule out scrapping the SOD, which I think is the correct interpretation, if, however, that is incorrect then AR could simply issue a statement correcting it but she hasn't yet.

Number of days since labour tool power: 61

Number of tax rises the DM have claimed will happen: 61

I wonder what tomorrow's headline tax increase will be? "Labour plan to reintroduced the hearth tax as they wage war on the squeezed middle" maybe?

On a more serious note, it would be wonderful if the tory faithful on here would try and hold labour to the same incredibly lax standards they held the previous tory government too. After all, aren't you supposed to be vehemently opposed to any 'two tier' behaviour?

I think any normal person looking at that mix of statement and question would conclude that t(e answer is related to both things. It takes a particular agenda to say it means it’s likely single discount will go.
Maybe lobby Badenoch to phrase questions better? Unless, while we are being ridiculously pedantic, that was deliberate so this sort of nonsense could be stirred up…

Why should she? Should she go round denying she’s doing everything she’s not doing? Traditionally there was no speculation like this about the budget as everyone accepted no government would leak or discuss it in advance. Another thing Johnson et al have caused. They started the leaking nonsense. Just accept you’ll know what’s in the budget when the budget is announced and not before.

It doesn't take any kind of agenda, it's takes an understanding of politics and the way politicians communicate.

You're quite convinced Labour won't scrap the SOD and OP is spreading lies because you have an agenda. I can't speak for other people but I don't know if they will or not, I only know that AR did not confirm they wouldn't.

She hasn't confirmed she won't scrap the SOD.

I was very clear that I did not know either way in my very first post, please feel free to go and check.

You seem to have a problem with what you think people say.

As a single person (divorced and adult children who have left home) I really appreciate the discount and, seeing the levels of rubbish that I put out for collection compared to my neighbours (with children) feel aggrieved that I may not have it for much longer. However, what does the Council Tax cover? Can we honestly say that one household 'should' pay more because there are more people in there? I do believe that all councils, like government departments, waste money excessively and do begrudge paying any more but what does my CT actually pay for? Its not just bins and schools is it?

CT covers the police too I think
Our local station shut down years ago and going to be commercial flats now

Well we're talking about politicians so there's always a particular agenda. I do agree that KB's question wasn't incisive enough, she should have been more direct about the discounts. I doubt that it was deliberate though, surely if she wanted to stir the pot about it she would have asked directly about the discounts. FWIW though I hope that you are right and I am wrong, we'll know soon enough. What I do think the Govt will do though, if they are actually planning on removing the single person's discount, is to let Councils decide for themselves if the discount can stay. We all know what will happen then.

I’m not convinced of that at all. I have no opinion on what might end up in the budget what I’m not doing I’d creating/spreading rumours and twisting anything any Labour MP says to screw the worst possible interpretation out of it.

surely if she wanted to stir the pot about it she would have asked directly about the discounts
Only if she had reason to suspect that Labour were planning it. Since she didn’t ask directly…

She has t confirmed she doesn’t plan to go on the next space shuttle mission either. Perhaps we should start to be concerned about how far that will take her from her constituency.
I don’t know what you mean with the rest of the post, sorry b

Would a single adult without kids use more than a couple with 3 kids? Almost definitely.

Excellent point. Lets hope you're right.

I haven’t said they aren’t planning to do it…the point is nobody knows either way. The OBR report the budget will be based on is likely not even finished. I think it would be out of kilter with a lot of the manifesto, soon that basis I’d be surprised if they removed it. However my point is simply that nobody knows. This is all speculation and shit stirring.

Genuinely wasn’t being snidey. I often see posts on here that are obviously from journalists and this one smacks of one. They quote mumsnetters all the time!