Steve Carr, LibDem leader on Broxtowe Borough Council, comments on the £1.6bn government fund launched today to boost less well-off towns in England after Brexit:

"The Government could have spent this money last year or even the year before but chose to announce this just days before a vital vote on the PM’s Brexit deal. It is a cynical attempt to woo Labour MPs to vote for her deal. It has to be noted that £1.6bn is nowhere near the amount that local councils have lost over the last few years and which has led to cuts to vital services. This is not a Brexit bonus it is a Brexit bribe. 

It goes to prove that the magic money tree does exist and it is in Teresa May’s back garden."