By Vivienne Russell | 8 April 2013
Councils should be given powers to stop payday lenders setting up shop on England’s high streets, Labour leader Ed Miliband announced today.
Launching the Labour Party’s local election campaign in Ipswich, Miliband also reiterated his support for a mansion tax on houses worth more than £2m.
On payday lenders, the Labour leader said they ‘engulf people in debts they cannot pay’, charging interest rates of 1,000%. He added that national action to cap the cost of credit should be backed with local action.
‘Currently, if a bank branch closes down, a payday loan shop can move in and open up in the same place even if there’s a payday lender just down the street. And there’s nothing the local council can do. That can’t be right,’ said Miliband.
‘[We need] new powers so that local people can have a say about which type of shops they want to see and which they don’t… We should give councils that power.’
The speech also attacked the government’s economic record and highlighted the ‘millionaires’ tax cut’, the reduction of the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p. Labour would reverse this cut, Miliband said.
‘We should introduce a mansion tax on houses worth over £2m to help bring back a 10p starting rate for income tax and make work pay for millions,’ he added.
Meanwhile, Nick Clegg has launched the Liberal Democrats’ local election campaign in Cornwall. In his speech, the deputy prime minister made a pitch for the LibDems as the party that could strike the right balance between spending cuts and fairness.
He highlighted the party’s record in power, particularly the rise in personal income tax allowance, hikes in capital gains tax and the banking levy.
He said both Labour and Conservative local government administrations had squandered money on wasteful vanity projects.
‘A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for a party which – wherever we’re in power – does its best to spread the burden of austerity fairly, investing jobs and help for hard-pressed families,’ Clegg said.
