Keir Starmer: Labour would freeze council tax this year

Starmer is to tell listeners in Swindon that this move would be fully funded with a "proper" windfall tax on the profits made by large oil and gas firms.

The Labour party is the country's main opposition and hopes to make gains in the May elections in England amid startling polling for the government.

Keir Starmer aims to contrast himself with the Conservative's economic decisions laid out during the Spring Budget earlier this month.

(PA) Keir Starmer is expected to say Labour would freeze council tax (Image: PA)

In a speech to supporters on Thursday (March 30), the Labour leader is expected to say: “There is a choice on tax: a Tory choice – taxes up for working people, tax cuts for the 1% – or a Labour choice, where we cut business rates to save our high streets and where, if there was a Labour government, you could take that council tax rise you just got and rip it up.

“A Labour government would freeze your council tax this year – that’s our choice. A tax cut for the many, not just for the top 1%.”

Labour claims that the Government is effectively forcing Councils to increase taxes by reducing funding to these authorities.

The party claims that this has resulted in an average rise of around 5.1%, surpassing £2000 for the first time.

Keir Starmer wants to 'send a message' to the Conservative Government at May elections

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to say: “We’ve got to send a message to this Government – what they’ve delivered to our country after 13 years in power is nowhere near good enough.

“We’ve got to get out there and show people the difference Labour can make, let them see our hunger for change.

“We have to prove that this suffocating cost-of-living crisis, the path of decline the Tories have set Britain on, the endless sticking plaster politics, is not inevitable. There is a choice.”

When are the 2023 local elections in England taking place?

The local elections will take place in most English local authorities on May 4, 2023.

This includes areas like Bournemouth and Coventry with the full list of councils voting being available on the Electoral Commission website.

Do you need an ID to vote in the 2023 local elections?

From May 4, 2023, voters in England will have to show a photo ID to vote at polling stations in some elections.

This will apply to local elections, police and crime commissioner elections, UK parliamentary by-elections and recall petitions.

What forms of ID are accepted at polling stations for the May local elections?

The Electoral Commission has set out the acceptable forms of photo ID and they are as follows: 

• Passports issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA state or a Commonwealth country.
• Blue badges
• Older Person’s Bus Pass funded by the Government of the United Kingdom
• Disabled Person’s Bus Pass funded by the Government of the United Kingdom
• Oyster 60+ Card funded by the Government of the United Kingdom
• Freedom Pass
• Scottish National Entitlement Card
• 60 and Over Welsh Concessionary Travel Card
• Disabled Person’s Welsh Concessionary Travel Card
• Senior SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• Registered Blind SmartPass or Blind Person’s SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• War Disablement SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• 60+ SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• Half Fare SmartPass issued in Northern Ireland
• Identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card)
• Biometric immigration document
• Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)
• National identity card issued by an EEA state
• Electoral Identity Card issued in Northern Ireland
• Voter Authority Certificate
• Anonymous Elector's Document

If you don't have a photo ID, you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate.

The May local elections are taking place on May 4, 2023, with select areas voting on their councillors.