The 83-year-old facing jail for refusing to pay the increase in her council tax probably should not be paying any tax at all, the local government minister suggested yesterday.

 “The irony is that if the figures in the papers, and the Daily Mail has a big story this morning about Elizabeth, are right and that her income is just £77 a week, she shouldn’t be due to pay any council tax at all," Nick Raynsford told GMTV.