Local Elections - 3rd of May 2012

[notinshadow]

Or the councillors f*c*ing the town now you mention it.


Do you want to say sorry here or in The Mail.

[The Great Dictator]

Westminsters rates are low because the amount of income tax raised there is high. Only 30% of Hartlepool residents pay council tax whereas in Westminster 80% pay it..

[Straight Talking]

Again you've been listening to the lies and 1/2 truths spread over the years.

EVERYBODY PAYS COUNCIL TAX - those who can afford to pay all of it do so.
Those who have a concession ie 25% off if you live alone - the other 25% is made up by Government subsidy
Those who receive Council Tax Benefit from part to the whole amount again the money is made up by Government subsidy.

So Hartlepool receives the whole of the Council Tax due, regardless.

[The Great Dictator]

Yes but Hartlepool puts very little back into the economy compared to Westminster because so few work and pay income tax, you can't have your cake and eat it.

[beanzontoast]

When the Police and Fire Authority, asked the council for an increase in their budget, could the council have refused to increase it and thereby not increasing the council tax at all. Also one thread on the forum stated what i think was a good point in that in voting for H.P.F. or Independents, you did not know what they stood for / Believed in and to vote for same made for a difficult choice, I agree but i have mentioned before on this forum how to resolve the problem and that is to support only those candidates who have behind them a national party with a Manifesto, the Manifesto will at a stroke tell you what that candidate stands for and believes in. The Candidates from U.K.I.P. have just such a national party and the Manifesto, you can view it on their website. The Labour controlled council is affiliated to the Labour party and when in government are a party for mass immigration, and the human rights act, it is also a believer in a big state machine, to name only three policies, so a labour party is for those on welfare benifits, it must therefore constantly raise taxes, U.K.I.P. dissagree with all three of Labours core policy`s, at a local level U.K.I.P. are the best choice to reduce the tax burden on Hartlepool residents.   

[brassed off monkey]

Hartlepool has seen what a Manifesto has done for it over the last 50 years.

Would  beanzontoast care to enlighten readers of this forum just what benefits were brought to Hartlepool by the last Labour government ? can he explain just what our current MP Ian Wright & his predecessor Mr Mandelson, have brought to the town ?

They couldn`t even keep their word on the retention of the Hospital.

As for the present LibCon government, we have the choice of 2 manifestos with them & they can`t even agree amongst themselves what to do, apart from one U Turn after another.

Local problems require local solutions, National Politicians quite frankly have lost touch with the ordinary working person, hence the recent local election result in Bradford.

[Julie noted]

BOT and others are STILL referring to national policies and 'manifestos'. 

Putting Hartlepool First HAS such a manifesto....it is called 'Putting Hartlepool First'!!

No matter which Govt. is in Westminster, PHF will do its utmost to ensure the requirements of the people of Hartlepool come first.
That is their guarantee to you and to me. 

Should they fail in their DUTY to the population of Hartlepool, they will be out rather rapidly at a later date. 

But hey, I would rather take a chance on a new team, than stick with what we have endured for far too long. 

I am reminded of the Texan battle cry;           'Remember the Alamo'.

For us, it is;                   'REMEMBER THE HOSPITAL'

[notinshadow]

Their councillors can't even answer straight forward questions, so what chance do we have with them..

[The Shadow]

As for the present LibCon government, we have the choice of 2 manifestos with them & they can`t even agree amongst themselves what to do, apart from one U Turn a

You say that like it's a bad thing. Personally I think it shows that they are prepared to listen to the public and change course instead of being stubborn and refusing to lose face like the Blair & Brown.

[marky]

". . . only those candidates who have behind them a national party with a Manifesto, the Manifesto will at a stroke tell you what that candidate stands for and believes in. . . "

And there you have it in a nutshell.........if you really believe that a manifesto published and printed in London by any of the national parties truly tells you what every one of their Councillor believes then you are living in Wonderland.

It does no such thing - it TELLS them what to pretend they believe and how they should vote. In that respect, it doesn't really matter what your friendly local Labour Councillor believes because in the council chamber it becomes irrelevant.

Council Tax.
The last figure I saw was that 37% of households in Hartlepool pay Council Tax from their own earned income (that's households not people). The rest have it paid for them by Central Government. The point being that Hartlepool having a high level of unemployment doesn't mean that it receives less Council Tax; it receives the same whatever the level of unemployment is.

However, there is an issue here that needs to be considered.

A large part of Labour's core vote comes from those receiving council tax benefit which pays their council tax for them. The actual level of council tax therefore doesn't bother them too much as they won't have to pay it themselves. This to me explains why the level of council tax in Hartlepool has been allowed to reach such dizzy heights - by and large, a high level of council tax doesn't affect many of Labour's own voters. As a result, in spite of being in the worst recession for 60 years they continue to spend, spend spend.

Drummond got it right in saying that the only reason HBC took the Government money to freeze the council tax this year was because there was an election round the corner. Just wait till next year and the bumper 'catch-up' rise about to hit the town - Labour are pulling at their leash.

[beanzontoast]

It`s good to have debate, essential in fact, so let us see how this can work out, in England`s history we had Charles 1 because he was king, and the devine right to rule he did so, Oliver Cromwell gave us the parliment we have today, while that is history it is where we are today, my point and  some may have missed it, to change a council you only need to have a majority of councillors from one particular party, they will of course do what they can, but based on their alliegience to the party they belong,  after all you are not voting for the person you are in essence voting for their policies. So to make it quite simples to change a country you need a popular national party. Many people do find it bad that we have lost the hospital and comment about it do you know we only have 2 ambulances for the town,but we have a new life centre, this coalition government has only been in power for some 18 months to 2 years, so if you join the dots who is it that got rid of the hospital, well we hung a monkey so i will have to tell you, LABOUR DID IT, of course you have a vote on May 3. Many good people died in two world wars to give you that choice.   

[Straight Talking]

When the Police and Fire Authority, asked the council for an increase in their budget, could the council have refused to increase it and thereby not increasing the council tax at all.

Unfortunately not, the Police and Fire Authorities have tax raising powers, they just don't have the means to collect it, therefore HBC like other Councils acts on their behalf as collecting agent, with monies collected being allocated to the respective authorities.

Hope this helps?

[notenoughsaid]

...In his weekly article in the local rag Mayor Drummond openly stated that he would have liked to increase council tax instead of taking the "hand out" from the Gov. if  they didnt increase it....His logic being that once applied an % rise  lasts for ever.Therefore a similar rise next year cuts deeper.   Who needs friends like that. I wish I had kept the article however we give the Mail to an elderly neighbour  although I could have copied it.This was printed during the troubles with his desenting cabinet.

[marky]

the same was said by the Labour Group who described it as a 'bribe'.

[Vincent]

There was a vote to accept the Fire Brigade and Police Force precepts so I can only assume that it could have been voted down