Harriett Baldwin, David Cameron's Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for West Worcestershire, this week called on Menzies Campbell's Liberal Democrats to rule out plans to tax Malvern's homes with a new house price tax.

• New house price tax say LibDems: Liberal Democrats have recently endorsed new tax plans, backing a controversial new house price tax. It calls for taxing "unearned economic rent" to "stabilise the property market" by introducing the "satisfactory" Danish model of a "national 1 per cent property tax". This would be on top of plans for a new local income tax of between 3.75 to 4.5 per cent on both basic and higher rates of income tax. According to an independent watchdog, "the fuss has been justified". According to Fact Check, "The Liberal Democrats' local taxation proposals have been much discussed over the past few days, and the story has been one of confusion. On the one hand, the party's documents say they'll introduce a property tax - an annual tax based on the market value of a property - on the other, party leader Sir Menzies Campbell says they won't."
• Malvern Hills would be hit hard: Under a 1 per cent house price tax, the average property in Malvern Hills District Council would now pay a local tax bill of £2,144 a year, on top of a local income tax of up to 4p in the Pound.

Harriett Baldwin commented,

"I can understand why the independent watchdog describes the Lib Dem tax plans as a confused story. I would like to call on Menzies Campbell's Lib Dems in Malvern to definitively rule out any plans to introduce a new house price tax in their next General Election manifesto."