Andy Burnham accused of 'committing daylight robbery on Middle England' by allegedly taking cash from Tory-run rural councils while boosting funding for Labour town halls

Andy Burnham was accused last night of ‘committing daylight robbery on Middle England’ by allegedly taking cash from Conservative-run rural councils while boosting funding for Labour town halls in urban areas.

The Prime Minister and Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner faced claims of ‘rewarding failure’ amid protests that Tory-led local authorities were more efficient than their Labour counterparts.

But Mr Burnham also came under attack from the Liberal Democrats who said their own rural councils were unfairly losing out too.

The row follows reports that government-controlled grants and funding to Labour-run town halls will soar by £1.6 billion over the five-year period of this Parliament.

In contrast, funding for Tory and Lib Dem-dominated councils was set to fall by £487 million over the same five-year period according to an analysis in the Daily Telegraph.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch reacted yesterday by accusing Labour of waging a ‘spiteful class war’ and said she was prepared to challenge the cuts in court.

She added: ‘A Labour Government taking money away from Conservative-run councils to hand it to their own is like financial gerrymandering.

‘And it’s ordinary people who will pay the price in higher council tax and worse services, through no fault of their own.’

Last night, Tory MP Katie Lam, the party’s Shadow Local Government Secretary, said: ‘This has nothing to do with fairness.

‘It's about Labour shifting resources away from Conservative-led councils and towards its own political heartlands.

‘Inflicting higher taxes, service cuts, and endless regulations on people in an effort to score political points is wrong on every level.’

And Greg Stafford, Tory MP for Farnham and Bordon, said that Surrey county council was set to lose £50 million in funding over just one 12-month period.

He told the Mail on Sunday: ‘Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner are committing daylight robbery on Middle England.

‘They are taking cash from well-run, Conservative councils in rural areas and cynically diverting it to inefficient town halls run by their Labour cronies in urban areas.

‘This isn’t taking money from the rich to give to the poor – it’s just rewarding failure in badly-run Labour councils.’

Lib Dem rural affairs spokesperson Sarah Dyke MP said: ‘Stripping half a billion pounds from rural communities to prop up Labour’s urban heartlands isn’t fair funding.’

She called on Ministers to scrap ‘this short-sighted raid and fund the real cost of rural services

‘Rural councils deserve a system that reflects the real cost of providing services in every corner of the country, from longer journeys to scarcer providers.’

And councillor Millie Earl, Lib Dem leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council, said: ‘Every council leader knows local government finances are on the brink everywhere.

‘But starving coastal and rural areas like ours just to plug deficits in metropolitan boroughs is reckless and deeply unfair.’

However, last night, Ms Rayner’s department defended the funding arrangements.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: ‘We’re fixing an outdated funding system so funding goes where need is greatest.

‘As a result, nine in 10 councils will receive funding that broadly matches their need, up from only a third before our reforms, so they can deliver the high-quality public services local people need.