The comments came during a fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrat party conference in Liverpool. When questioned on how frontline jobs can be saved in local government, Lib Dem Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle, parliamentary private secretary to chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, said he could not guarantee every job would be protected.
But he said both local government, which he emphasised is the main source of funding for voluntary organisations, and central government will have to set priorities.
He criticised some local authorities for putting themselves before vital services. "An example of the rank incompetence of councils is Blackburn, which is closing down a swimming pool that caters for disabled children because it costs £170,000 per year to keep up," he said. "That is a shame, but in the next breath they are spending £3m redecorating the town hall. That is an outrage, they should get their priorities right. Local government looks after itself and always has done.
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