Labour must look for solutions away from cruel welfare reforms. Council tax reform is just one way.

Plus: Regardless of the welfare vote outcome Starmer and co must listen more + ReformWatch + latest from The Lead North team + The Lead Digest with our recommended reads for the week ahead

Photo by Florinel ZONE on Unsplash

The government’s welfare reforms are driven by a need to save money. But let’s be clear: there are other ways for the government to either raise more money or find savings. There is always a political choice.

As figures emerge showing council tax debt is at a record high and as bills for households are set to rise by 5 per cent a year, there has never been a better time for reform of the way we tax property.

Across England, Scotland and Wales, council tax arrears now sit at around £8 billion, up 79 per cent in five years. Those most affected are, unsurprisingly, already the worst off. Data by Debt Justice found that 50 per cent of people in arrears come from the bottom 25 per cent of earners, and 79 per cent come from the bottom 50 per cent of earners. A third of people in council tax arrears live below the poverty line, and this figure doesn’t account for housing costs, which means it underestimates the problem.

Vitally, those who miss a council tax payment are most likely to be in the North of England. As The i reported last month, around 11 per cent of the population in Yorkshire and Humber, more than 437,000 people, were in council tax arrears at some point between 2022 and 2024. In the North West, that figure is 10 per cent — the same as in London.

What’s remarkable about these figures is that property prices in the North are much lower than those in London, yet council tax debt is the same if not higher. If you’re aware of just how broken the current council tax system is, though, it all makes sense.

In England, people living in the most expensive houses pay the least amount of annual property tax. In Knightsbridge, for example, where it costs, on average, £20.35 million to live, residents pay the second-cheapest council tax in England – £1,946.32 per year for properties in the most expensive band (band H). Meanwhile, in the UK’s most deprived town, Blackpool, where the average property price sits at £149,543, residents have to fork out more than double that amount, with the most expensive (band H) council tax in the town costing £4,784.42.

Put bluntly, council tax is not just regressive, it’s oppressive.

While campaigners are right to call for a more compassionate approach to debt collection, what we really need is a complete overhaul of the council tax system, ideally in the form of a proportional property tax. Without that, Britain’s poorest will be plunged further into debt, and those at the top of the property ladder will stay none the wiser.

@theleadukCouncil tax is broken - it's time to fix it. After the Spring Statement tabled yet more pressure on society's most vulnerable, we look at how a radical overhaul of the way council tax works could tackle inequality and get Britain back growing again #politics #ukpolitics #labour #counciltax #tax #london #blackpool

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Labour needs to listen, regardless of the welfare rebellion

All eyes are on the Commons as a tense vote unfolds over welfare reforms. We’re into rebellion part II stage now in what’s becoming a war of attrition between the government and its backbenchers.

Much is being said about how this is unprecedented for a first-term government with such a big majority, but commentators are forgetting the game has changed. There’s a huge wave of newly elected Labour MPs, who have lived through Covid, furlough, the cost of living crisis, and no doubt see the upswing in friends, family, colleagues, who are struggling.

What’s been fascinating is how traditionally rival wings of the party have come together - as Leigh Jones reported in the Teesside Lead at the weekend - to oppose the welfare reforms.

For readers of The Lead then the warning signs have been loud and clear to the government for months now, they don’t need a TikTok trending video to tell them, there’s widespread concern and disillusionment about what’s proposed. The concessions, although broadly welcomed, are seen as too little, too late. And however the vote goes, for Starmer, Reeves and the cabinet, they will need to turn their ear a little closer to their own benches, especially in the North of England, and listen to the concerns they are airing about the kind of Britain they want to see built and the mandate handed to them by voters last summer.

You’ll hear more about the impact this welfare revolt has had on the first year of the Labour government from our Westminster Editor Zoë Grünewald in our Thursday and Saturday editions this week as she explores the government’s record so far.

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The Lead is keeping an eye on Reform UK and their fellow travellers. Get in touch on X, Bluesky and Instagram with tips and stories. We especially want to hear from readers whose local council is now run by Farage’s followers.

• Amanda 'Mandy' Clare, the Reform councillor for Cheshire West and Chester, has been charged with assault and criminal damage following her arrest at the Winsford Pride event on Saturday. She has been released on bail and is set to appear in court on 8 August. Farage and the Reform party are yet to comment.

• A couple of resignations in Sheffield and Berkshire have given Reform two more by-election wins. In Bracknell Town Council, Reforms Justin Bellhouse beat the Labour candidate Chloe McDougall with just 24 votes. In Sheffield, former UKIP councillor John Booker won the Stocksbridge and Don ward, with the Lib Dems in second place and Labour in third.

• Given the brewing infamy of Blackpool’s Reform pub, The Talbot, we’re surprised to see that the Newtown Pippin pub in Bracknell hastily distanced itself from Reform after it was pictured on Bellhouse’s campaign leaflets. The pub said: "We have now spoken to the party who have apologised and didn’t realise the issues it could possibly cause our business. We DO NOT affiliate with ANY political party and will be immediately on the case to find out who has authorised printing leaflets with our pub name on. We pride ourselves on everyone being welcome and this goes against all of our principles.” Reform has apologised.

• In more flag news, Chief Executive of Warwickshire County Council, Monica Fogarty, refused to take down a Pride flag during Pride month despite demands from Reform to do so. Zia Yusuf, now the head of DOGE, accused her of orchestrating a "coup d'etat" and engaging in a "subversion of democracy". Okay mate.

• Finally, Reform and the Tories have, for the first time, joined forces to back a Bill amendment which would require the nationalities of offenders to be revealed. All five Reform MPs are backing the amendment, which would require quarterly publications of the nationality, method of entry to the UK, visa route and status, asylum status and country of birth of convicted offenders, along with details of their offence type and sentence length. Labour has already proposed its own league tables of migrant crime rates based on the nationalities and foreign criminals living in communities while awaiting deportation.

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The Lead Digest

Ella enjoyed George Monbiot’s piece on the Dorset village facing eviction at the hands of an unknown plutorat— and how divide and rule tactics stop us from seeing who is really responsible for the disintegration of communities. It’s a great case study for the myth of the rural culture war, which Jon Moses wrote about for us last month.

Zoe recommends this (once again, bleak but necessary) piece on community health interventions by the Guardian’s North of England Editor Josh Holliday. It is especially pertinent this week, as Labour announces its 10-year NHS plan about the importance of prevention and the toll of austerity on the nation's health.

Padraig relished our Teesside Editor, Leigh Jones’, nihilistic WingStop review. “After taking pictures of you and your friends at WingStop, you can go about the bothersome chore of eating, but there’s no dignified way of sucking the meat off these small bones.” Delightful!

If you happen to be in London, we recommend paying a visit to the recently unveiled statue of Mary Woolaston — only the fourth statue of a woman of colour in the capital.

The Mary Woolaston statue near Kings Cross

Woolaston is believed (by some historians) to have been a well-keeper in 17th Century England.

Finally, Ed loved Peter Capaldi’s surprise appearance during Franz Ferdinand’s Glastonbury set over the weekend. Especially his top tier dad dancing.

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At The Lead we’re dedicated to telling stories beyond the bright lights of London and Manchester (although sometimes we still will). We have dedicated journalists and titles in Blackpool, Lancashire, Calderdale, Teesside and Southport bringing in-depth news and features twice-a-week to those communities…

In Blackpool, mothballed high ropes are set to be pulled down - around a decade after the local council borrowed £320,000 to build them.

This is a common debate in Blackpool - a very leisure and tourism-focused town as you’d imagine - where the council invests in things for people to do but things don’t always go according to plan.

But it is a failed project - and one where the local council taxpayer has to foot the bill.

A new planning application has been submitted for the Eden Project Morecambe with updated explanations about proposed changes to buildings and spaces, which bosses say will maximise the ‘wow’ factor among visitors, along with new forecasts for visitor numbers.

Post-pandemic costs mean that the plans have had to be ‘refined’, which will have supporters of the project hoping this isn’t another HS2.

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This time last year we were bracing for the country going to the polls, so our Thursday and Saturday newsletters editions will take you deep into our and yours ranking of how the first year of Starmer, Reeves and Labour has gone. Zoë Grünewald, our Westminster Editor, is speaking to insiders, MPs and also digesting your thoughts from our reader survey to give her verdict on where the government is getting things right, and getting things wrong with plenty of room for improvement. We hope your enjoy Zoe’s two-parter when it lands in your inbox over the rest of this week. If you’re reading this and not signed up, then do so below to ensure you receive it.

Natalie, Zoe, Ed, Ella, Padraig, Luke and The Lead team