Today (Friday 17th) Cllr Julian Bell has written an open letter to the Prime Minister, asking him to ensure his government doesn’t betray our communities and go back on their word to reimburse councils the cost of the coronavirus response, and the impact of the lockdown.

We didn’t want to have a fight about funding during this crisis, but we can’t allow the government to inflict more cuts on our communities.

Councils are already at breaking point after a decade of Tory austerity – Ealing has lost 64p in every pound since 2010. We don’t have the power to borrow to cover revenue spending, and we have a legal duty to balance budgets.

If the government goes back on its word to councils about funding, they will be betraying the vulnerable people they claim to be protecting, and the incredible staff who have put their lives on the line to support them.

Ealing Labour has long opposed cuts to council funding and Tory austerity and we certainly won’t stop now.