MID Worcestershire MP Peter Luff prompted a debate in the House of Commons this week on whether the government was responsible for Worcestershire's recent council tax rise.
Mr Luff challenged local government minister Nick Raynsford to admit the government's 'robbery' of £13 million from Worcestershire County Council forced the tax hike.
Mr Luff later said: "The only reason council tax is rising at county level by so much is this massive theft by the government of funds that will be used to help Labour-controlled councils elsewhere in the country.
"What makes things worse is that the government itself calculated through complex formulae just how much we needed for our schools, social services, roads and libraries and then, arbitrarily, took £13.4 million away in the name of 'resource equalisation'.
"This is a scandal of massive proportions designed to make Conservative controlled Worcestershire look bad. But the victims of this political stunt are the poor and underprivileged of our county who will have to find the massive increase in council tax out of their hard-pressed household budgets."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article