Labour councils should defy cuts
In many areas Labour councillors say they will "fight the cuts" - but also implement them! This is a longer version of this article than in the printed paper. They say they have no choice. In fact they can and should use their council positions as platforms to mobilise to defy the cuts. The alternative is not a little harmless trimming. Central government is set to cut councils' funding by 25% over the next four and a half years. Since much that councils do is "statutory" - background stuff that they must do, by law - a 25% cut is huge social destruction. Poplar's Labour council, in 1921, and...