Councillors attack cuts

A group of more than 90 Liberal Democrat councillors have written a letter to the Times criticising the scale and speed of the government's cuts.

The signatories include the Lib Dem leaders of 18 local authorities.

The letter claims that the severity of the cuts will hurt local services and the economy. It argues that timing the cuts over a single year leaves little room for councils to restructure their services and will hit the poor hardest.

The councillors criticised communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles in particular, accusing him of "shaking a stick", rather than working with local authorities.