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Labour launches local poll push
2011-03-31 15:02:55
31 March 2011 Last updated at 12:08 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Labour launches English local election campaign
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//Ministers say councils can cut back on bureaucracy and procurement costs to mitigate the impact on core services used by the public and stress they are providing transitional funding for the first two years for the most affected councils.
Labour, who say this funding will provide only a "small cushion" for a short while, argue that councils are being forced to "frontload" cuts to services into the first two years. And they say town halls in more deprived parts of the country are being unfairly treated.
Mr Miliband has rejected government claims that some Labour councils were deliberately cutting frontline services for political reasons to embarrass the government.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "They are making efficiency savings and they are doing their very best to protect services that people really value and contribute to social justice in this country."
The government has accused Labour of having no concrete plan to deal with the UK's record peacetime deficit while stressing steps it is taking to help people with rising living costs - such as ensuring no council tax payer in England will see a rise in their bills this year.
Addressing a meeting of Tory MPs on Wednesday evening, Mr Cameron said they should be confident that they could win the key economic argument about the deficit and the pace of cuts.
The prime minister pledged to spend three days a week campaigning ahead of May's poll and urged MPs to campaign "hard locally".
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has urged his party to "hold its nerve" ahead of the elections, saying they are taking difficult decisions in the national interest and will be rewarded in the long term.