WHILE we were all expecting our council tax bill to rise this year, none of us expected it to go up by a massive 17 per cent, as it is in Blackburn.

Of course, finance chairman Coun Bill Taylor assures us that it has nothing to do with the policies of the ruling Labour group. As one would expect, he blames the increase on the Tory government for starving the council of funds.

The real reason why our council tax is going up so much is that the ruling Labour group is devoid of economic sense and has an outstanding talent for wasting money.

And it's no use Coun Taylor trying to pass the buck. His party has ruled Blackburn and Darwen for a good number of years. Therefore, when their policies work, they take the credit. But when they fail, then they must take the blame.

And what are they doing with our council tax money? As far as I can see one or two areas receive all the money while others receive nothing.

I have lived in Blackburn all my life and it used to be a really nice town, but, over the years, I've seen it go down and down.

Many of the stalls on our market have had to close through the high rents insisted on by the ruling Labour group.

But you get what you vote for. Vote Labour again in May and next year and we could be facing a 25 per cent rise in our council tax.

And, once again, Coun Taylor will assure us it's not their fault.

D PEARSON (Mr), Vice-Chairman, Blackburn Conservatives, Rawstorne Street, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.