Should the British Tea Party Movement begin with the Town Halls?

Interested to see Freedom Association launching Britain's equivalent of the Tea Party Movement at an event in Brighton today with Dan Hannan on the Conservative Spring Conference fringe. I rather thought we already have our own tea drinkers called the Taxpayers Alliance - but there is no harm in competition.

Where I think there is actually signs that the anti tax backlash is forcing politicians to react is at local level. Even many Labour councils are freezing the Council Tax this year. Ideologically the Labour councillors might still believe in tax and spend. They might not want to offend their paymasters in Unison. But when they go out canvassing they can hardly fail to realise how unpopular Council Tax rises are. Looking the records for Council Tax changes by authority in recent years (click on Council Tax Time Series Band D) I can see that until this year only a handful of councils brought in a freeze or a cut. This year the picture is getting rather more mixed.

By the way I am often surprised that those proposing tax hikes claim the endorsement of that legendary anti tax activist Robin Hood. That was not the interpretation of Disney. Labour-run Nottingham City Council are proposing a 2.9% Council Tax rise - hitting the poorest the hardest. Council leader Cllr Jon Collins is seeking to tax the heart and soul out of the people of Nottingham.