Court ruling threatens London tax flow

Encouraged by a court ruling, citizens all over Greater London are preparing to tear up city tax bills they got in the mail - and those who have already paid their taxes are lining up at town halls, demanding their money back, according to Monitor contributor Alexander MacLeod.

The Appeals Court has condemned as illegal a decision by the Greater London Council to levy a hefty additional tax to pay for cuts in bus and underground (subway) train fares.

The situation is threatening to throw the finances of London into what city officials call absolute chaos. An even wider outcome of the affair is a likely revolt by taxpayers in other English cities whose councils have increased city taxes to subsidize urban transport services.