By Julian Bell, Leader of Ealing Council

This week I’ve joined with other Labour Leaders from across England and Wales to call on Boris Johnson, the new Prime Minister, to end cuts to local government.

 The letter has been signed by over 100 Labour Council Leaders from England and Wales and it calls on the new Prime Minister to immediately invest £2bn in children’s services and £2bn in adult social care, reverse the changes to the council funding formula that have forced the biggest cuts on the most deprived areas, and pledge to use the Spending Review to restore council funding to 2010 levels over the next four years.

 Councils are at breaking point. Since 2010, the Tories have cut £143m from our core government grant. That means we’ve lost 64p in every pound – higher than the London and national averages.

 All over the country, Labour councillors are working to deliver for local people in difficult circumstances. We might not be in power in Westminster, but Labour are in power in local government all over the UK, and we are making a difference to people’s lives.

 In our ambitious 2018 local election manifesto, we pledged to deliver the largest genuinely affordable homes target in London – 2,500 by 2022 – and to work with the community to find new and innovative ways to deliver the services local people care about in the face of Tory cuts.