21 March 2003
The Liberal Democrats hope to benefit from Labour's unpopularity over the Iraq crisis and the continuing doldrums of the Tories to make serious gains in May's local elections.
The party's spring conference last weekend was largely overshadowed by events in the Middle East. But Ed Davey, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister spokesman, told Public Finance that the party believed a number of Tory councils in the Southeast were vulnerable.
He said: 'We will be telling voters that we have costed plans to slash £100 from every council tax bill, as a prelude to our policy of abolishing the tax altogether. Council tax is a Tory tax that Labour have made even worse, and it should go.'
He said that Labour had failed to resource local authorities, and people on modest incomes therefore would face large increases in the 'hated and regressive' council tax.
The conference adopted a detailed new policy on planning, which would almost entirely remove the secretary of state's powers, and pass control to regional and local government. Central government would have a role only in developments of 'genuine UK-wide significance'.
Simon Hughes, the party's Home Office spokesman and its candidate for mayor of London, accused the government of resorting to thoughtless legislation that hampered councils' efforts to tackle antisocial behaviour. He told the conference: 'The imposition of the latest wheeze from Whitehall often does more damage than good.'
PFmar2003
