Tory council's 94% tax hike in chaos as Kemi Badenoch orders lawyers to challenge Labour cuts that led to raid

You are about to be charged £0.00* *Your gift has been applied Thank you for subscribing! Tory council's 94% tax hike in chaos as Kemi Badenoch orders lawyers to challenge Labour cuts that led to raid 'Labour is taking money from areas that don't vote Labour and giving it to places that do vote Labour,' Mrs Badenoch warned The fearless champion of Britain, its voices and its values. Join the fight for free speech and fearless journalism. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Community Rules. Don't Miss Most Read Latest Kemi Badenoch has ordered lawyers to challenge Labour cuts after a Conservative London council raised its council tax by a staggering 94 per cent. Wandsworth Council has had 40 per cent of its funding taken away by central Government, with the Tory leader accusing Andy Burnham of deliberately taking money from areas that do not vote for Labour. Appearing on BBC Newsnight, she said it was not fair that Wandsworth was forced to increase council tax to make up the funding gap. Mrs Badenoch said: "I think it is outrageous that Wandsworth Council is having to put up council tax. But they’re not doing it because they want to. "It is because the Government has taken away 40 per cent of their funding. So we have actually instructed lawyers, as the Conservative Party, to see if we can challenge the Government on this decision. "Because what it looks like Labour is doing is taking money from areas that don't vote Labour and giving it to places that do vote Labour." The Government reformed council funding to direct more cash to deprived areas and make the system "fairer for taxpayers across the country". Six councils with historically low council tax rates, have been given two-year "funding realignment powers" allowing the increase of the tax beyond the five per cent threshold. Kemi Badenoch accused the Government of 'taking money from areas that don’t vote Labour' |PA Three Conservative councils - Westminster, Wandsworth, and Kensington and Chelsea - wrote to Mr Burnham in August urging him to review the changes. They argued the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government "assumed massive rises in council tax" to compensate for cuts to central Government funding. Mrs Badenoch added: "Andy Burnham has not found 40 per cent of anything to cut, but he’s asking Wandsworth to do that. I don’t think that’s fair. I don’t think that’s right." The Conservative Leader said a nearly 100 per cent increase in council tax would make families "extremely worried". LONDON POLITICS - READ MORE: Wandsworth Council is one of six councils granted special powers to raise council tax |WIKIMEDA / EUGENE REGIS "Families have budgets," she said. "Just because on average it's lower than somewhere else doesn’t mean that people are going to be able to afford it." She added: "We have to do the right thing. And what I would ask Andy Burnham is if he thinks it’s so easy to find 40% of cuts why hasn’t he done that with the welfare bill?" She also insisted the Conservatives "would never" slash a council's budget by 40 per cent just because it voted Labour. Also given powers to hike tax were City of London, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Windsor and Maidenhead councils. Wandsworth was Conservative-run from 1978 to 2022, when it flipped to Labour. Andy Burnham has been accused of not finding '40 per cent of anything to cut' |PA It ended up with no overall control in this year’s local elections, with the Tories scraping by as the largest party with 29 councillors to Labour’s 28. In August, theen-Shadow Local Government Secretary Sir James Cleverly said the Prime Minister's devolution agenda could not be achieved by imposing council taxes "from on high", describing the hikes as a "Burnham penalty". A Government spokesman previously said: "We're fixing an outdated funding system so funding goes where need is greatest. "For too long, some of the wealthiest parts of the country have benefited from exceptionally high levels of government support while communities facing greater pressures lost out. "Our reforms will make the system fairer for taxpayers across the country, while protecting councils through the transition and ensuring no area faces a cliff edge."