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Can Labour councils seize the initiative on fighting cuts?
CHRIS WILLIAMSON on a little-known power local authorities could use to stop cuts without taxing the poor more

AS EACH week goes by the pungent pong of a putrefying political party is polluting Westminster’s corridors of power. That pretty much sums up the Conservative Party’s current plight, and it is reminiscent of the mid-1990s.

Back then, as sleaze allegations were engulfing the Tories, they were fighting with each other like rats in a sack about Europe, and a hapless prime minister was squatting in Downing Street awaiting the inevitable.

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? But this time the situation is far more serious for the Tory Party, which is now facing an existential crisis.

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