Under pressure
ONE of Labour's trickiest challenges, if it wins the coming election, will be to reconcile its long-standing promise to give local councils (a majority of which are Labour-run) more freedom to run their affairs with its more recent determination to limit public spending. Councils get more than 80% of their income from the government. Can Labour really sweep away the capping of council budgets and compulsory competitive tendering for local services, and still keep the public finances in order? Labour councils are now attempting to seize the initiative and show that this can be done. Otherwise, they fear, Tony Blair might be tempted to leave the govern ment's strict financial regime for councils in place.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Under pressure”
From the March 8th 1997 edition
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