Following last week's list of naysayers, this week's local government cynicism award goes to Liverpool City Council Mayor, Joe Anderson, who has claimed he wants to pilot business rates so he can prove it doesn't work.

To be fair to Mayor Anderson, this is not, as may be perceived by government, a cynical bleat about the failing finances of his city, or a determination to fail in a bid to play politics – he is grasping at the chance to show central government the inequity he faces over funding in a bid to iron out the problems before business rates are rolled out across the country.