Unjust cuts may spark unrest say Northern leaders

Shadow communities and local government secretary Hilary Benn added: “Both urban and rural councils – Labour and Tory, rich and poor – are warning of the consequences of cutting too far and too fast. Communities have already seen the closing down of their libraries, and SureStart and leisure centres. Sadly this is just the start.

“And yet while Eric Pickles and David Cameron have imposed the biggest cuts in the entire public sector on local authorities, they are completely out of touch when it comes to the consequences.

“Instead of standing up for local communities and the services they rely on, they are badly letting them down and all at the same time as they are giving millionaires a tax cut from next April,” he said, referring to the reduction in the top rate of income tax to 45 pence.