kennedy criticises  unfair  taxes gordon brown has failed to tackle the  fundamental unfairness  in the tax system in his ninth budget  charles kennedy has said.  how was it right that the poorest 20% of society were still paying more as a proportion of their income than the richest 20%  the lib dem leader asked. the new £200 council tax rebate for pensioners did nothing to fix the  unfair tax   he added. the government could not go on  patching up  the system  he added. speaking in the commons after mr brown had delivered what is widely thought to be the last budget before the general election  mr kennedy acknowledged that the uk was one of the most successful economies in the world.  but he criticised both the chancellor and the tories for failing to address the  ticking bomb  of council tax revaluation. he said the recent experience of wales indicated seven million households in england would pay significantly more after revaluation. the chancellor s announcement that he was to offer a £200 council tax rebate paid by pensioner households was merely a  sticking plaster  to a much bigger problem. the lib dem plan for a local income tax would benefit the typical household by more than £450 a year  with half of all pensioners paying no local tax and about three million being better off.  on pensions  mr kennedy said it was a  scandal  that the system discriminated against women who had missed making national insurance payments when they were having children. he said a residency criteria would end  at a stroke this fundamental iniquity . mr kennedy added his party s priorities of free long-term care for the elderly  abolishing top-up fees and replacing the council tax would be funded by charging 50% income tax to those earning more than £100 000 per annum. he contrasted his approach with mr brown s pledge in 2001 not to increase income tax. the chancellor went on to put up national insurance contributions after the election.  for most individuals  most families  most households  it adds up to exactly the same thing   said mr kennedy.  and they wonder why people get cynical about their politicians when they give one impression before an election and do exactly the opposite after that election.