Axe The Tax Campaign came to Rushmoor and Hart

6.20.10pm BST (GMT +0100) Sat 8th May 2004

Local Parliamentary Spokesperson Adrian Collett and Ed Davey MP talking to shoppers in Aldershot where 87% agreed that Council Tax should be replaced by Local Income Tax

The national Axe the Tax campaign came to Hart and Rushmoor on Saturday 24th April! Ed Davey MP, who is spearheading the Liberal Democrat campaign to abolish the council tax and replace it with a system based on ability to pay, joined local Lib Dems in four town centres.

Local opinion polls were conducted in Aldershot, Farnborough, Fleet and Yateley on abolition of the Council Tax and on replacing it with the Local Income Tax (LIT) alternative. Hundreds of signatures were also collected for the national Axe the Tax petition.

Again, support for Local Income Tax was high in Yateley at 94.4%

Altogether 274 people participated in the ballot, with queues forming on a number of occasions. Of those 274 people who voted, 246 (89.8%) said that Council Tax should be replaced with Local Income Tax. 8 were opposed and 20 didn't feel they knew enough to express an opinion. Support for LIT was over 87% in all four towns, peaking at 97% in Fleet.

Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Spokesperson for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and MP for Kingston, toured all four towns with Adrian Collett, Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Aldershot Constituency.

Rushmoor Liberal Democrat Leader Craig Card with Ed Davey MP and Adrian Collett in Farnborough where support for local Income Tax was 88.3%

Adrian Collett said: "Council Tax is unfair to those on fixed incomes, such as pensioners, and those on low incomes, as it does not reflect ability to pay. It was introduced as a panic measure to replace the Poll Tax, but it's becoming increasingly clear that it's got to go. It is based on 1991 valuations of house prices, so it's well out of date. It's also very costly to collect, costing two-thirds of a billion pounds last year alone.

"Local Income Tax, however, is fair. It can be collected by the Inland Revenue at little cost and it already works in many other countries like the USA and Sweden. 70% of people would be better off or unaffected under our proposals.

In Fleet support for Local Income Tax was highest at 97%

"Wherever we went, people were really pleased to see us campaigning on this issue and, as is shown in this small and unscientific sample of opinion, there is clearly overwhelming support for change. People asked probing questions and were generally delighted to hear that there were sensible answers available to them. It's clear to me that it's just a matter of time before Council Tax will have to go. The sooner, the better!"