Lewisham Labour hiking our council tax bill again

A Labour govt left nothing in the Treasury and a £120bn structural deficit. The Tories have to reduce the deficit. They have to cut something. They chose to cut local spending rather than the NHS budget (the latter is now rising in real terms). That’s the right thing to do.

I’m sure the Tories hoped councils would become more efficient. Perhaps hire a few less Diversity Outreach Coordinators and focus on providing a service instead.

I’m sure the Tories (and most residents) didn’t expect councils to fritter £1M+ of taxpayer money on unpopular 20mph signage, for example.

Enjoy your 5% council tax hike everyone. And the shiny new 20mph signs. Thanks Labour.

Unfortunately we are not Surrey Council.

Every 1% increase in Lewisham Council Tax is expected to result in around £800k revenue, so nowhere near enough on its own to cover 130m lost in central Government grants since 2010.

You may want to add ’ allegedly ’ to that unless you know for sure they acted in the way you suggest.

Not sure where you feel ‘allegedly’ needs to be inserted, but I think it’s more than a mere allegation that Lewisham is not Surrey

I can confirm that Lewisham council is not Surrey council.

Here’s a venn diagram to help explain:

image.jpg748×613 39 KB

If only we could follow the example of the Labour-led Hammersmith and Fulham council. This Labour-led council is freezing council tax as the Labour Mayor and Labour cabinet members took a hard-nosed approach to this Labour-led council finances, reducing the cost of its Labour-employed senior management team, reducing spending on Labour-led council publicity and renegotiating Labour-led council property deals with developers.

PS. As a pedestrian and a resident on a long straight wide road I fully support the 20mph and endorse the need to ensure drivers in Lewisham are familiar with this. However, as a DINKy household I absolutely abhor the wasted tax payer money towards programs for children in this Borough. Terrible terrible.

PPS. I working on developing my passive aggression this week.