Labour blasted over ‘damaging’ council tax hike by Kevin Hollinrake: ‘Going to hit working people!’

Shadow Housing Secretary Kevin Hollinrake has launched a scathing attack on Labour over their support for council tax increases, labelling the move “really, really damaging”.

Speaking to GB News, Hollinrake criticised Labour’s approach to tax rises, particularly focusing on their reversal of previous promises.

Councils have been given the green light to implement inflation-busting increases of up to 5 per cent on bills next year.

“Having said there’d be no tax increases, everything was fully costed and fully funded, now we realise there’s £25billion of taxes, which really is going to hit working people,” Hollinrake told GB News.

The Shadow Housing Secretary expressed particular concern that the council tax increases would not lead to improved services for residents.

Last year, Rachel Reeves had pledged to use £2.7billion from a windfall tax on oil and gas companies to freeze council tax bills.

At that time, she had stated: “While the Tories think the cost-of-living crisis is all over, Labour is on the side of working people.”

Hollinrake highlighted the broader impact of Labour’s tax policies, pointing to a £25billion “job tax” that he claims will have far-reaching consequences.

“The Chancellor doesn’t seem to realise is going to mean higher prices, lower wages and lots of impacts on areas she hadn’t considered things, like GP surgeries,” he said.

Outlining alternative approaches, Hollinrake detailed specific measures the Conservatives would implement instead of tax increases.

“We could reform welfare. Welfare is costing tens of billions of pounds more than it was pre pandemic,” he told GB News.

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He pointed to public sector inefficiency as another area requiring attention.

“It’s costing tens of billions of pounds more to run the public sector than it was in terms of efficiency, because its 7 per cent less efficient than it was pre-pandemic. That’s what we had a plan to do,” Hollinrake explained.

He accused Labour of taking the easy option of raising taxes.

“Instead, what we’ve seen is Labour just doing what they said they wouldn’t do, which is jump for the tax raising lever, which is about £70billion of tax increases and borrowing extra every single year.”

He accused Labour of taking the easy option of raising taxes.

“Instead, what we’ve seen is Labour just doing what they said they wouldn’t do, which is jump for the tax raising lever, which is about £70billion of tax increases and borrowing extra every single year.”

Council tax bills are set to increase by an average of £110 next year, with the rise being three times the current inflation rate of 1.7 per cent.

The increase will allow councils to raise the average Band D bill from its current level of £2,171.