In the early 1980’s the Thatcher Government realised that the best way to neuter popular resistance to her brutal anti working class Government policies was to try and destroy the Labour Party as an effective force in local government.
Instead of the public being allowed to vote in Labour Councils who were committed to targeted raising of the rates in a way which protected services without making the poor bear the brunt of rises, the Tory Government slashed central Government support and legislated to reject local democratic decisions by restricting the amount councils could collect; so called “Rate Capping”.
The Tories targeted Labour held councils by introducing a race to the bottom. They argued that Authorities such as poverty stricken Liverpool should spend per capita at the same level as areas in the UK of relative wealth such as Dorset. They deliberately ignored deprivation indicators and spun the…
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