Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has warned Labour councillors not to let their officers determine the policies of their councils.

Speaking at a rally in Brighton, coinciding with the TUC annual conference, Mr McDonnell backed the Birmingham bin strikers and claimed refuse workers were taking action against austerity.

Mr McDonnell, who is himself a former local government officer, said: ‘I do not see your strike as strike against Labour.

‘I see your strike as a strike against austerity.

‘Our advice to Labour councillors wherever, when they go into dispute, is to get round the table and insist on the fact that it isn't chief executives or officers of the council that determine the future of a council's policies, but the councillors themselves.'

The bin strike has already led to the resignation of council leader John Clancy.