Skip to main content
Let’s work towards a new dawn for localism
We can draw inspiration from Lambeth, Liverpool and Clay Cross in the battle against local government cuts, says CHRIS WILLIAMSON
Clay Cross councillors walk out of court in 1975 where they appeared over a creditors' petition in bankruptcy for their refusal to implement the Housing Finance Act

THE Uruguayan literary giant of the Latin American left, the late Eduardo Galeano, once said: “History never really says goodbye. History says see you later.”

Galeano’s maxim seems particularly apposite in terms of local government cuts today. Demands are growing for Labour local authorities to rediscover municipal socialism to resist the relentless Tory cuts that have continued every year since 2010. 

The New Labour era reduced councils to mere delivery arms of central government. Local authorities became obsessed with a tick-box culture that resulted from the plethora of indicators dreamed up by Whitehall whiz kids. Then an army of dubious inspection regimes was used to beat local authorities into submission. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a reception at number 10 Downing Street, Westminster, to thank NHS staff for the extraordinary work they do every day to care for patients and support the health of the nation, July 6, 2026
Voices of Scotland / 14 July 2026
14 July 2026

The PM leaves office having squandered Labour’s electoral mandate and alienated its grassroots. He will not be missed, writes BRIAN LEISHMAN MP

GLC
Books / 26 May 2026
26 May 2026

MARJ MAYO recommends a well illustrated and very positive account of an extraordinary period in local government history

Coins in a Saltire purse
Features / 7 May 2026
7 May 2026

Years of underfunding are eroding Scotland’s local services and deepening inequality in communities, says VINCE MILLS

John Wheatley. Photo: wellcomeimages.org/CC
Features / 22 November 2025
22 November 2025

Building is the solution for much of our housing crisis – and will also help to address poverty, ill health, and even anti-social behaviour and alienation, writes KENNY MacASKILL