Labour councils across the north of England have repeatedly lost seats because leading councillors have spent too much time complaining about austerity rather than dealing with it more dynamically, the leader of one of its flagship authorities has said.
Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, says a decade of government cuts have left many local authorities just about able to offer bare minimum services: library, social care and cultural budgets have all been slashed across much of the country.
