Labour have already scrapped the single person discount for their controversial new council tax surcharge. Now they are eyeing up axing the discount on main council tax bills as well.
Now Andy Burnham and John Healey are coming back for more and it will be paid for on the backs of widows who rely on the single person discount.
These stealth tax rises are straight out of the Labour playbook. Across the country, councils are already pushing up council tax, while changes to business rates have decimated our high streets.
But this one is different and we are clear about who pays for it. A widow does not choose their circumstances. To most people, it is obvious that they would not place the same demand on council services as the family next door.
Yet Labour would charge them exactly what that family of four pays. Losing your other half is not a choice and it should not be punished with higher taxes.
But this is not a niche issue affecting only widows. Some 8.6 million households across the United Kingdom claim the single person discount: one home in three.
It is worth £598 on an average council tax bill, meaning the change would amount to a £4 billion tax raid nationally. Being single is not a luxury lifestyle choice and Labour should not treat it as such.
It was the Conservatives who created the discount in 1993. We stopped John Healey making it optional in 2012, and we will stop him again.
There is an alternative. The Conservatives have set out how the Government could save billions without taxing widows. They could get a grip on our ballooning welfare bill and return the civil service to 2016 levels.
John Healey could rule this tax hike out tomorrow. The fact that he has not tells you exactly what is coming.
