IsItFair campaigners have reacted with anger at the Chancellor's latest attempt to patch up the council tax system. In his pre-budget statement, Gordon Brown announced an extra £1 billion from central funds in an attempt to head off another massive rise in council tax bills in the run-up to the general election. Christine Melsom, founder of the nationwide IsItFair campaign, had this response on behalf of protesters across the UK: "Council tax is a massive issue and is gathering momentum by the day. People of all age groups across England, Wales and Scotland want this regressive system scrapped but the government refuses to listen. "They think they can bribe the electorate by patching up the existing system and by forcing ever-increasing numbers of people to be dependent on the benefits system. This is blatant pre-election bribery and it will not fool the voters." According to the Headley resident, campaigners were unimpressed by the government's statement that average council tax rises next year should now be "less than five per cent", after taking into account the extra £1 Billion. She told The Herald: "This is totally unacceptable. They (the government) are still talking about a rise of three times the rate of inflation and expect people to be jumping for joy. This will be the eighth successive year that we have been saddled with inflation-busting hikes in council tax. It's time for a bit more honesty from politicians and for them to acknowledge that this present system, based on property value, is grossly unfair and unworkable." IsitFair campaigners believe there is only one way to resolve the situation and in this Mrs Melsom was adamant: "The only way forward is to scrap council tax and replace it by a system that takes account of people's ability to pay and spreads the burden more fairly - nothing less will do."
