Britons in Birmingham have raised concerns to GB News about council tax hikes after Labour approved an increase of more than 7 per cent.
GB News reporter Jack Carson spoke to locals where they hit out at Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s decision to approve council take hikes in six struggling councils across the country.
Six councils serving more than two million people will see an increase of more than five per cent, with some seeing increases of up to double the current inflation rate.
Rayner said the Government would only approve increases where councils have “comparatively low existing levels of tax and plans in place to protect the vulnerable”.
Birmingham residents have hit out at Labour after approving a council tax increase of more than 7 per cent
GB News / PA
One Birmingham man told Jack in a furious rant: “We’re going to struggle with it. Council tax is a lot of money.
“Things are already tough, people are struggling in this world. The Government needs to take a step back and start helping these people, not putting the tax up.”
When asked if he feels let down by the Government, he fumed: “I definitely feel let down. We need to get the Government out. Keir Starmer, he’s no good for the country.
“We need to have a Government that’s going to help the homeless people, the old people – they’re stopping the Winter Fuel Payments, you can’t do that, man. Because old people are going to die.”
Rayner has approved council tax hikes for six struggling councils
PA
Delivering his verdict on whether he believes the extra money paid by residents will go towards paying off their debts, he added: “I don’t feel that they’re going to do that. They’re letting too many people into the country.
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“It’s an easy life for them, and the people that are working hard, it should be going towards them, old people, helping them with the heating bills, they ain’t got a clue. They haven’t got a clue.”
Speaking to another resident in Birmingham, she was shocked to learn of the council tax hike, and questioned how she would find the extra money to pay for it.
She told GB News: “I can’t believe it. I didn’t know, I really didn’t know, and that’s too high.
“I’ll have to take out loans, because we need to provide for the family as well. So I don’t think it’s fair.”
Residents of Birmingham have been left outraged by the decision
GB News
Sharing her thoughts on the council’s bankruptcy, she said that the extra money being paid by residents will “only make things worse”.
She concluded: “It’s going to make things worse, and obviously a lot of people are struggling at the same time.”
In a statement to Parliament, Rayner said: “Tough decisions are needed across local government to fix the broken system we inherited.
“These are difficult decisions that Government has not taken lightly. We recognise the importance of limited increases in helping to prevent these councils falling further into financial distress – but we have been clear this must be balanced with the interests of taxpayers.”