Rishi Sunak is preparing to hand an emergency bailout to dozens of councils after being urged to act by Tory MPs.
More than 40 Conservative backbenchers from all wings of the party have warned the prime minister they are “exceptionally concerned” that their local councils are facing financial crisis and will have to raise council tax while cutting services in an election year.
MPs are threatening to vote against local authority funding allocations next month unless Sunak listens to pleas for hundreds of millions of pounds of extra cash.