Somerset's Own Credit Crunch

The county is getting a record pay-out from the government this year to help it with its spending plans - an inflation-busting 9% - 22% over three years.

But in spite of that council tax is set to rise by another 3.8% as well. Some people are wondering whether there should be any increase in council tax at all. The council tax has doubled over the past few years. They are saying that they want a break. Why can’t they have a zero increase this year?

The answer is of course because the Liberal Democrats run County Hall. And they just can’t stop spending your money. Conservatives put forward plans to save over £20 million and to cut the council tax increase to just 2.5%. But the spendthrift Liberal Democrats just wouldn’t listen.

And it gets worse. They are planning to borrow more as well. As if they weren’t deep enough in debt already - over £425 million gross borrowing last year. It’s like a second mortgage for every hard-working family in Somerset that we will all be paying off over the next twenty years. So now the Liberal democrats are not just the party of tax and spend - they are the party of tax, spend and borrow.

Ken Maddock, Leader of the Conservative group of councillors said: “This has all the makings of Somerset’s very own credit crunch. And it’s entirely home-made. The record pay-out from the government is a real windfall. We should use it wisely. There is no need to blow it all in one big splurge as the Liberal Democrats seem hell-bent on doing. This is a sub-prime budget from a sub-prime administration. The sooner they go the better.”