Brighton: Red and Blue unite against Greens

 Let me be honest from the start I'm not at all sure that holding referenda on Council Tax rises . It makes like difficult and the lesson from California on their infamous proposition 13 is a sobering one

The propositionin  abdopted im 1978 the state  decreased property taxes by assessing property values at their 1975 value and restricted annual increases of assessed value of real property to an inflation factor, not to exceed 2% per year. It also prohibited reassessment of a new base year value except for in cases of (a) change in ownership, or (b) completion of new construction.
In addition to decreasing property taxes, the initiative also contained language requiring a two-thirds majority in both legislative houses for future increases of any state tax rates or amounts of revenue collected, including income tax rates. It also requires a two-thirds vote majority in local elections for local governments wishing to increase special taxes. 

As a result it has made it difficult for the state to raise income by tax increases and at some times  almost bankrupted the state

Nevertheless the  vote of no confidence in Brighton's Green Party administration which  has been passed as the controversy over its proposed council tax rise intensifies loks like the Labour Party and Tories actually are afraid that the Greens might win and get the public behindbehind them.

The Green Party wants to raise council tax by 4.75%, which would need a majority yes vote in a referendum. Which is what the Tories led coalition at Westminster  have legislated for

The Labour and Tory groups called on leader Jason Kitcat to stand down, but he said he was "not going anywhere".
Both the Labour and Conservative groups said they planned to oppose the Green Party budget next month.
'Crisis looming'

 Labour group leader Warren Morgan said his party wanted a 2% increase because a freeze would mean more cuts being forced on the council.
He said residents could not afford another £6 a month on top of all the other bills that were going up.
'Political squabbling' Mr Morgan said he had called for a "caretaker" administration that would see all three parties governing on a consensus basis with a 2% tax increase.
"It would focus on getting those basic services like refuse collection right, instead of all this political squabbling and point scoring and gestures that people are coming up with - that is what residents are telling us they want," he said.
Running thier first council has not been easy for the Greens The city faced disrupted rubbish collections last summer and this month - the council later said it had made changes to the service but the transition period had not been as smooth as hoped for.

So now it looks like Labour and the Tories may go into coalition and oust the Greens.

It looks like as in Wales Labour prefer the Tories  toa progressive party and are more intent on destroying the Greens in England  rather than the Tories as they are  with plaid in wales.