Labour government would freeze council tax, says Sir Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer will promise “lower taxes for working people”, as he launches Labour’s local election campaign on Thursday.
Speaking in Swindon, the party leader will try to highlight the different choices a Labour government would make if it was in power – saying he would freeze council tax for a year as a priority.
But Sky News understands this is not a solid pledge for the next general election.
Sir Keir will also repeat pledges to keep energy bills lower by insulating 19 million homes, reverse the recent decision by government to abolish the lifetime pensions allowance, and scrap the non-dom tax status to fund NHS workforce expansions and breakfast clubs at every primary school.
The leader is expected to say: “We’ve got to send a message to this government – what they’ve delivered to our country after 13 years in power is nowhere near good enough.
“We’ve got to get out there and show people the difference Labour can make. Let them see our hunger for change.
“We have to prove that this suffocating cost of living crisis, the path of decline the Tories have set Britain on, the endless sticking plaster politics, is not inevitable. There is a choice.”
Sir Keir Starmer will launch Labour’s campaign in Swindon.
The launch comes ahead of the start of the new financial year, with Labour pointing to the council tax rises coming in on Saturday.
Almost three in four local authorities are planning to increase the cost by the maximum amount allowed after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt raised the cap on council tax increases without a referendum from 3% to 5%.
Council leaders have said they have “little choice” than to make the move due to soaring inflation, rising care costs and squeezed budgets.
But a Levelling Up department spokesperson said its approach “balances the need to deliver vital services while protecting residents from excessive increases”.
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Council tax is due to rise on 1 April for many people, adding to the concerns of those already hit by the cost of living crisis.
Read more: How much will your council tax go up by?
Speaking at the launch, Sir Keir will say: “There is a choice on tax. A Tory choice – taxes up for working people, tax cuts for the 1% – or a Labour choice, where we cut business rates to save our high streets and where, if there was a Labour government, you could take that council tax rise you just got and rip it up.
“A Labour government would freeze your council tax this year – that’s our choice. A tax cut for the many, not just for the top 1%.
“So take this message to every doorstep in your community: Labour is the party of lower taxes for working people. That’s the difference we can make. That’s the choice in May. A better Britain.”
But chairman of the Conservative Party, Greg Hands, said Labour’s launch announcement “isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”.
He added: “They have no plan to introduce this if elected. They’re taking the British people for fools.
“If Labour were serious about cutting council tax Labour councils would be doing it now.”
The event comes a day after the Liberal Democrats held its own local election launch in Hertfordshire, vowing to steal votes from Labour and the Tories.
After making his entrance by driving a orange tractor through blue hay bales, party leader Sir Ed Davey said: “People are seeing the Liberal Democrat vote is a powerful vote in many parts of the country.”
Israel pounded the outskirts of Gaza City overnight, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Families streamed out of the city as the explosions hit.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40.
“No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Mahmoud Abedrabo mourns over the body of his son Hamada in Gaza City on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation.
“We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money,” she said.
Mourners pray next to the body of Palestinian boy Hamada Abedrabo on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Witnesses said that overnight they heard nonstop explosions in Zeitoun and Shejaia.
Tanks shelled houses and roads in Sabra, and buildings were blown up in Jabalia.
On Sunday, the IDF said its forces had returned to combat in Jabalia to strengthen its control of the area and dismantle militant tunnels.
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
This month, Israel approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City. The offensive isn’t expected to start for another few weeks.
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In the meantime, mediators in Egypt and Qatar are trying to resume ceasefire talks between the two sides.
On Friday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas releases all its remaining hostages and ends the war on Israel’s terms.
Mourners transport the body of Ahmed Balata on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Around half of Gaza’s two million residents currently live in the city and on Friday a global hunger monitor said that Gaza City and its surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread.
Israel said the monitor ignores steps Israel has taken since late July to increase aid supplies into and across Gaza.
Eight more people died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry on Saturday.
281 people, including 114 children, have now died of malnutrition and starvation since the war started, according to the ministry.
The war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel, mainly civilians, and took 251 hostages.
Since then, Israel has killed at least 62,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and internally displaced nearly its entire population.
Two married couples have died after a British car veered off the road and crashed in Germany, according to police.
The fatal accident happened shortly after midnight on Saturday in the trees near a highway in the Kassel district, north of Hesse in central Germany.
The 32-year-old male driver, a 31-year-old female passenger, a 32-year-old female passenger, and a 30-year-old female passenger all died at the scene, despite the efforts of German emergency services.
Sky News understands UK officials have not been contacted for assistance.
At roughly 12.30am on Saturday, the car appears to have veered off the road and crashed into nearby trees around 30m from the road, according to the Kassel police department.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
One of the victim’s phones automatically alerted the emergency services to the incident, who sent an ambulance to the scene.
Soon, fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles and emergency support vehicles were all dispatched.
When emergency workers arrived, the car was lying on its side, wedged between several trees.
It wasn’t until they removed the roof that they found all four passengers.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
The accident happened on Highway L3229
The emergency workers who dealt with the victims were immediately supported by the specialist mental health workers at the fire station in Reinhardshagen.
“This high number of deaths is an extraordinary operation for our Reinhardshagen Volunteer Fire Department,” said a fire department spokesperson.
“For some of the emergency personnel, it is the first time they have been confronted with death in this way.
“Therefore, a great deal is being done to help us process these images. We will also discuss this among ourselves and within families, because not everyone can easily shake off what they have seen.”
An investigation into the accident is ongoing and is being conducted by the Hofgeismar police station.
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