The Town Hall

Our mayor is considering having a referendum to see whether residents in the city would agree to a 10% rise in their council tax. Massive amounts of central government support to councils have been cut in recent years, particularly to urban councils such as Liverpoool. In the face of those cuts, the most that councils are allowed to increase their council tax is 3.99%, without a referendum. Yet with a 3.99% increase the city would not have enough money to balance its books even if it closed all its libraries and all its sports centres, stopped maintaining its parks and halted all highway repairs.

That's "austerity" for you.