A TORY politician says it is ‘very easy’ for the council to blame central Government following comments from the leader over budget cuts.

Cllr Russ Bowden expressed his views on the situation at last week’s leader’s forum in Stockton Heath.

He said: “It’s mainly councils in the north that have felt the pain, there are councils in the south that have seen no difference really in terms of their income.

“So, what we are left with is council tax and a bit of business rates that we are allowed to keep.

“The business rates, overall, we keep about 30 per cent – if we were allowed to keep everything that was generated here in Warrington that would be another £70 million a year.”

Deputy leader Cllr Cathy Mitchell said the cuts affected ‘mainly’ Labour authorities.

But Andy Carter, Tory parliamentary candidate for Warrington South, has responded to the comments.

He said: “It is very easy for the council to turn around and blame everything on central Government.

“Ultimately, the elected members of the council have choices they can take of how they operate.

“They are the people that set the council tax, they are the people that decide what to spend on, they are the people that choose which services to operate.”

However, Mr Carter confirmed he would be in favour of councils keeping more of their business rates partly because it puts ‘more accountability’ onto local authorities to focus on reinvestment.

He also said he would have no issues working with Labour figures at the Town Hall, if he became Warrington South MP.

“I will work with anybody to benefit people in the town and to make sure we get our fair share of what is out there,” he added.

“It doesn’t mean I’ll do it in a way the Labour Party would do it, I would do it in a way a Conservative would do it.”