Sir Michael Lyons, in his latest report, has raised the stakes for all sides of the debate on the future shape of local government. Sir Michael lays down a detailed argument showing it is impossible to reform local government without also reforming Whitehall. They are opposite sides of one coin. That is why we shall either succeed in reforming both - or neither. This is both a harder challenge and a greater opportunity. Sir Michael argues that within the current regime, the postcode lottery can only be removed with a blank cheque. The national spending sums have already been done, and we know that cheque cannot be honoured.
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