The government has cut more from poor, Labour councils than rich Tory ones – and it shows

MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM - FEBRUARY 26: A homeless man sleeps rough in the doorway of a hotel on the streets of Manchester on February 26, 2015 in Manchester, United Kingdom. As the United Kingdom prepares to vote in the May 7th general election many people are debating some of the many key issues that they face in their life, employment, the NHS, housing, benefits, education, immigration, 'the North South divide, austerity, EU membership and the environment. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

If Brexit feels like a perpetual exercise in banging your head against a wall, spare a thought for those of us who have spent nearly ten years making the same point about the least glamorous political topic of all – local government.

Since 2010, local political reporters like me have spent each January or February traipsing into town halls for the annual budget cuts briefing, an event only ever livened up by things being just that bit worse than the year before.