Lib Dems battle Downing Street over speed of cuts

Hull City Council leader Carl Minns was among 88 town hall Lib Dems to accuse Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles of “badly letting down” local authorities in an open letter published in a national newspaper yesterday morning.

The letter made uncomfortable reading for the Government and coincided with a fresh attack from Lord Oakeshott, the former Lib Dem Treasury spokesman in the Lords who quit on Wednesday over the deal struck with the banks, who blamed David Cameron for a “weak, waffly agreement”.

But Ministers were unmoved by the protests, with Downing Street saying that “good councils” should have foreseen spending cuts and prepared, and warning that delaying cuts would mean paying more out in debt interest. Councillors are furious that they are having to make the biggest budget cuts in the coming year, rather than being able to spread the pain over several years to give them more time to restructure services rather than slashing cherished core services which hit the vulnerable hardest.

The letter brings into the public simmering tensions over Mr Pickles’ role, with the Lib Dem signatories – headed by the party’s Local Government Association leader Richard Kemp – accusing the Minister of “shaking a stick” at councils with repeated attacks on waste and senior salaries.

They accused Mr Pickles of being “unwilling to lead the change that’s so desperately needed”.

Other signatories included Andrew De Freitas, leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, and four leaders of Lib Dem council groups – Jane Parlour in Richmondshire, Brian Jeffries in East Riding, Paul Coddington in Doncaster and Paul English in Craven.

Speaking as he campaigned in Barnsley, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said: “I think for Liberal Democrat councillors it’s really tough because they were not elected as local councillors on a manifesto to raise VAT, to cut local services, to raise tuition fees.”

Mr Oakeshott stepped up his criticism of this week’s agreement with banks to increase business lending, saying the Prime Minister had undermined the Government’s negotiating position by signalling his need for a deal.