“Lib Dems plotting council tax hike for second homes”

So reports the Independent on Sunday, covering Liberal Democrat policy plans:

Owners of second homes could be stripped of their council tax discount under Liberal Democrat plans to raise millions of pounds for town halls.

Danny Alexander, the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is among ministers who back ending rules that force local authorities to cut bills by 10 to 50 per cent for owners of weekend bolt-holes. In a Commons motion, the Lib Dem president, Tim Farron, suggested the cost of providing the discount could be spent on local services or cutting council tax bills for all…

Mr Farron, whose Cumbrian constituency has more than 3,800 second homes, claims their owners are being bankrolled by poorer local residents. He said: “People living on council estates, maybe working on the minimum wage, are subsidising the council tax of a barrister from Manchester with a second home in the countryside. We are having to put up taxes, scrap certain benefits… it is a case of social justice.”

You can read the full story here.