Pollsters talk about the tipping point – the moment when public opinion changes. They think one of these might be about to happen in relation to tax. I’m certain of it. Together with 100,000 other residents, I tipped last week when Westminster’s council-tax demand thumped on to my doormat with a 28.1 per cent increase. I confess that I had not noticed a 28.1 per cent improvement in this Tory-controlled council’s services; 28.1 per cent more litter, yes, and probably the same increase in the number of Special Brew-swilling drunks on our doorsteps. The council has been complaining that a quarter of its residents have vanished from the electoral register. I am not surprised; indeed, I am planning to go missing myself.
A few million more voters may tip after next Sunday’s tax rises. Perhaps if they were getting Mr Blair’s promised ‘world-class’ public services they would be happy to see their pay packets eroded for the first time since 1975.
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