Angela Rayner: Tories’ council fund is cynical pre-election sticking plaster

Angela Rayner has accused the Conservatives of cynically applying a “sticking plaster” to council finances to get through the next election, as local authority leaders warn that more will go bust next year.

The shadow communities secretary said Labour was “under no illusions” about the financial mess it would inherit in local councils if it gained power, after the Tories “took a sledgehammer” to budgets for more than a decade.