WHITEHALL

Can the public ever care about councils?

Ministers have justified unprecedented cuts to local government through a well-run campaign called ‘austerity’. Former Whitehall civil servant Dame Louise Casey discusses the perceptions of local government versus reality and asks why the public should care about the sector.

Over a quarter of a million people took to the streets in March last year ‘to protect the NHS'. It was a huge rally and symbolic of the place the NHS holds in our hearts, including mine.

This month, another opinion poll showed overwhelming public support for extra taxes to do the same. The support goes across the political divide shown in this poll by 63% of Tory voters also willing to pay more taxes. Every month around the country there are campaigns, polls and rallies in towns, cities and rural areas to save parts of the NHS.

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