Labour fights back in Pickles’ war on propaganda sheets

Most councils publish a newspaper – usually delivered to your door and instantly discarded. The government has decided that these freesheets are both a waste of public money and detrimental to local newspapers competing in the open market; the accusation that they are predominantly used for propaganda purposes has also been made.

Labour opposed the revisions to the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity, which might suggest that these publications are too valuable to their councils. However, some of the red camp’s objections were valid.

Two weeks ago, Chris Williamson, Shadow Communities and Local Government Minister, said that the proposals were indicative of Whitehall’s continued interference in local government, a megalomania that is hampering localism. Williamson has a point: as I blogged last week, the DCLG insists that councils are becoming more autonomous, while retaining tight control of money supply and prescribing certain types of spending and service.