Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

No, it does not. If the hon. Gentleman had been listening carefully to me, he would understand that it provides a reason for ensuring that we have a regular cycle for revaluation, so that such temptations to delay can be resisted. The argument in favour of a council tax is that it is relatively simple to collect and difficult to evade, and that it meets with a high level of acceptance. There are huge problems with his party’s preferred alternative of a local income tax, which is neither predictable nor easily collectable. It would also be very easy to evade, and it would be open to huge administrative costs. It would also place burdens on business and result in arbitrary consequences for households with two or more earners, who would find that they were clobbered. The hon. Gentleman will realise, when he gives a little more thought to the issue, that the electorate roundly condemn his party’s proposals as unworkable, as indeed are so many of the Liberal Democrats’ proposals.