Last week on Twitter I saw an idea circulating to give Special Constables in Haringey a 50 per cent discount of their council tax. I initially thought it was a joke. Sadly however, it appears to a real proposal from the Haringey Liberal Democrats, championed by the MP Lynne Featherstone. This proposal is extremely worrying and one I sincerely hope is rejected.

Of course I respect Special Constables, they volunteer as police officers and work without pay to keep our borough safe. I admire the civic duty they have decided to perform and am grateful they have decided to do so.

Likewise, I respect the thousands of other Haringey residents who give up their spare time and volunteer, making our borough a better place, these include those who work in food banks, homeless projects, in disabled charities, who are school governors, sit on safer neighbourhood panels, form residents associations, belong to friends of parks groups, Army reserves, scout leaders, charity shop volunteers, helpline advisors, carers and young people who give an amazing amount of time to their community, often without any recognition.

It is a true reflection of what makes Haringey such a great place - people across the borough from different backgrounds and circumstances who contribute in their own way to making our community so fantastic. They should all be equally valued and respected.

It is confusing why of these thousands of different volunteers only one group has been selected for preferential treatment by the Liberal Democrats. As it is, Special Constables receive free London travel worth approximately £3,000 a year, this is already more than most other volunteers in our community, so why do we need to give them even more preferential treatment?

This proposal is being sold as a method for the community to show appreciation for the hard work the Special Constables do for our borough. It feels as though if we oppose it, we are somehow disrespecting what these fine men and women do for our community to keep us safe. However, this week, figures from the Metropolitan Police show that they have lost more than 3,000 paid officers and the number of police officers in London is the lowest it has ever been since 2004.

I cannot help but to be cynical that it is part of an incentive to increase the numbers of volunteer police to cover for the high loss of police officers due to Conservative and Liberal Democrat government cuts. The Borough Commander has supported this proposal by stating it “will encourage more people to sign up and fight crime in Haringey” so maybe my cynicism is not misplaced, as the true political agenda behind this proposal is clear.

Paying council taxes, or indeed any taxes, is our civic duty, it helps pay for the services we all directly and indirectly benefit from. While some may feel these taxes are high or are not spent effectively, this is a different argument to whether they should be paid. The only people who should not pay are those who cannot pay and we assess this through a standard means test.

To give people a discount on their council tax for reasons other than means-testing their ability to pay sets a dangerous precedent. A tax discount should not be awarded as a prize for one specific group of volunteers a politician deems more worthy than others, or to provide incentives to increase the number of volunteers to hide the damage caused by bad political decisions.

The coalition government abolished the council tax benefit, which assisted 36,000 of the poorest means tested households in our borough. The replacement scheme is designed in such a way that many people who were assessed as unable to pay now have to make some sort of financial contribution. This has placed an additional strain on the finances of the borough's most vulnerable.

Selecting a small group of volunteers for a discount, regardless of whether they can pay or not, simply because the Liberal Democrats believe they are worthy or politically helpful is nothing more than an insult and a mockery of our social security system, which was designed to protect the poor and vulnerable.

If Special Constables cannot pay, then they would have received a discount or been exempt under the council tax benefit scheme the Conservative and Liberal Democrat government decided to abolish.

This proposal is nothing more than a political gimmick, designed to pit resident against resident on who is worthy of state help. It is being disguised as a prize but one we will all have to pay for, as there is no additional money in the council pot to cover it, so it will be at the expense of something else.

If Lynne Featherstone and the Liberal Democrats had any political integrity, they would call upon their government to reinstate the council tax benefit scheme and help the thousands now suffering with this additional financial burden. They’d also call for a reversal in the cuts to our police service which is putting all of our public safety in danger.

It is not fair that a mother who has been means tested as unable to pay for her council tax, now has to choose between feeding her children or paying her council tax thanks to this government abolishing the council tax benefit scheme, but Special Constables regardless of the financial circumstances obtain a discount. It is also not right that one group of volunteers is singled out to get this incentive over the thousands of other volunteers who work tirelessly to make Haringey a better place.

Haringey is a place for fairness and equality, as a lifelong resident of the borough, this proposal does not fit with the spirit our community is built upon. I hope it is rejected in its entirety by our locally elected politicians.