Labour minister endorses LibDem councils

In her opening speech to the Labour conference in Manchester, local MP and minister without portfolio at the Cabinet Office, Hazel Blears said:

"Look around the great cities of Britain, go to Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Cardiff or Newcastle, and you can see a new confidence, a new Renaissance.

"The British entrepreneurial spirit flourishing against a backdrop of economic stability and renewed public services."

I am sure that Rodney Berman, Liberal Democrat leader of Cardiff City Council, would welcome that endorsement, as will the Liberal Democrats of Newcastle-upon-Tyne who increased their majority at the local elections in May this year.

And while Leeds may not be in Liberal Democrat hands, if you approach the city from the south-west, you will pass through the second-greenest council in England, Kirklees. The green initiative was taken by the former Liberal Democrat-led administration.