Twenty Labour members of Broxtowe District Council in Nottinghamshire have resigned from the party.
The Guardian report says:
In a statement, the councillors – who will now sit as part of a new Broxtowe Independents party – said: "It is with a heavy heart that we can no longer be in a party that has abandoned traditional Labour values under Keir Starmer's leadership."
They were particularly critical of the cut to the winter fuel allowance, the bus fare increase and Labour’s plans to scrap two-tier county and district councils, which are to be merged to create large unitary authorities.
Radulovic said: "I believe the concentration of power in the hands of fewer people, and the abolition of local democracy through the current proposals of super councils, is nothing short of a dictatorship, where local elected members, local people, local residents will have no say over the type and level of service provided in their area.
"I have therefore been left with no alternative. I cannot support and will not support another centrist government intent on destroying local democracy and dictating national policy from a high pedestal."
It may be significant that the person the Guardian found to speak in favour of the Labour Party was Anna Soubry, the former Conservative MP for Broxtowe. Readers may also recall her as a leading member of the failed centre party Change UK, even if they couldn't remember which of its several names that party ended up using.
I am pleased to see that Labour's proposals for local government are meeting with opposition, at least within the party itself.
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