Municipal Matters

Based on an arbitrary valuation of a property that you might not own, and which in any case you could not sell without going to live up a tree or something, Council Tax ought to have been abolished years ago.

The full powers of local government ought to be restored, along with the traditional committee system rather than the various patterns of unaccountable oligarchy that have been introduced instead of it.

The stunningly anti-democratic arrangement in urban areas whereby you cannot even kick out the whole Council in one go needs to be discontinued. Throughout the country, each of us should vote for one candidate, with the requisite number elected at the end, every four years.

Except perhaps to cover travel to and from meetings in rural areas, the allowance should be abolished, along with daytime meetings. Being a Councillor was never supposed to be a job. Durham County Council now pays Councillors more than it pays Teaching Assistants. The ludicrous salaries of glorified Clerks also need to be halved, since anyone who complained could perfectly easily be replaced.

The cost of statutory services would, or at least should, continue to be met out of central government grant. But once the Universal Basic Income were in place, then Council Tax could be replaced with a voluntary flat rate charge, payable by as many adults as chose to pay it rather than restricted to one per address. Payment of that charge would acquire the right to vote and stand in local elections.

Another hung Parliament is coming, and we need our people to hold the balance of power in it. It has become a local commonplace that I am on 30-30-30 with Labour and the Conservatives here at North West Durham, so that any one of us could be the First Past the Post. I will stand for this seat, if I can raise the £10,000 necessary to mount a serious campaign. Please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. Very many thanks.