Rishi Sunak will talk about ‘levelling up’, but desperate communities should prepare for more funding cuts
When Rishi Sunak stands in front of the Commons for the spending review next week, the chancellor will no doubt serve up “build back better” buzzwords and promises of “levelling up”. Meanwhile you can expect him to be silent about the biggest funding crisis facing this country – and with it, the families going without crucial local services.
Think of local politics and it likely conjures up a dull picture of bin collections and road works (perhaps with the exception of Jackie Weaver and the exploits of the Handforth parish council). But local councils help form the fabric of day-to-day life: the library in your neighbourhood, the special needs teaching assistant in the local primary school, the carer who drops by to help your nan. The Conservatives have taken an axe to such services in recent years, and with a remarkable lack of pushback.
Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist and author of Crippled: Austerity and the Demonisation of Disabled People – now out on audiobook
