Boris council tax cut will buy you an onion a month

Labour's London Assembly budget spokesman, John Biggs, points out that Boris Johnson's decision to cut his share of the council tax will save the average Londoner 26p a month - enough to buy one onion

The Mayor today announced that he will cut City Hall's share of council tax by £3.10 a year - 26p a month, 6p a week, or less than a penny a day.

By contrast, the Mayor put up the price of a zone 1-4 travelcard by £8.75 a month this year. He has put up bus fares by 50 per cent, from 90p to £1.35. Fares have risen by an average of 26 per cent since Boris Johnson was elected.

Cutting the City Hall portion of council tax by one per cent will cost the Greater London Authority £9.35 million.

Labour's budget spokesman on the London Assembly, John Biggs said: "We support a freeze in difficult times but this tiny cut will save Londoners pennies - just about enough to buy one extra onion a month. By contrast his fare rises are costing anyone who has to get around the city hundreds of pounds more a year. Cynical stunts like this show the Mayor is out of touch and that, far from saving Londoners money, he is actually pick-pocketting them"

Boris Johnson's 6p a week council tax cut saves Londoners enough to buy:

• One box of organic eggs a year
• One cooking apple a month
• One tin of Tesco value beans a month
• One onion a month
• One packet of salted peanuts a year

Ends
 
Notes
 

• New research from the House of Commons Library shows that fares have risen by an average of 26 per cent since Boris Johnson was elected. Bus fares are up 50 per cent. 
• A one per cent cut the City Hall share of council tax saves the average London household just 26p a month. By contrast, a zone 1-4 travelcard now costs Londoners £30 a month more than it did in 2008
• A one per cent cut in the City Hall share of council tax loses the GLA £9.35million - or enough to pay for 184 Met police officers
• The Labour group's alternative budget proposes freezing City Hall's share of council tax