Back in February, the Guardian published the graphic below, asking 'are Labour councils cutting harder than Conservative ones?'
Speculation followed regarding whether Labour's enthusiastic implementation of ConDem cuts at a local level were politically motivated or not.
The question is - why is Labour implementing cuts when it could be fighting them?
Many of the public sector workers affected by council cuts will be members of UNISON, GMB or Unite, unions which have sponsored many of the Labour councillors implementing cuts. Is this value for money?
The Guardian article shows that even when various factors are controlled for, Labour councils are cutting at indiscernible rates to others.
Following a post-election crash in contributions from private benefactors, trade union money now accounts for 91.3% of Labour party funding. Yet Labour continue to slash jobs and services with the same vigour as the other main parties.
"Too far, too fast" say Labour of ConDem cuts - yet even this craven approval of slower-paced cuts and privatisation turns out to be far to the left of Labour's behaviour in councils across the UK.
