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The front-runner in the Labour's leadership campaign, David Miliband, has urged councils to help write the party's next general election manifesto. Writing exclusively for The MJ this week, Mr Miliband said Labour councils were the frontline in his party's ‘fight-back' against the Conservatives. He said he would support all councillors in ‘standing up to the Tory cuts' programme and in ‘offering a credible alternative at local level' – and promised to put the head of the LGA's Labour group into his shadow Cabinet if he became the new leader. ‘Without a Labour Government, Labour councils will be innovators for our next manifesto, putting policies into practice and showing how Labour can bring about the change Britain actually needs,' he writes. Mr Miliband, former foreign secretary and local government secretary, remains the bookies' favourite to become Labour's next leader, but faces stiff competition from his brother, former energy secretary, Ed Miliband. The leadership election's ‘dark horse', former health secretary Andy Burnham, also writes exclusively for The MJ this week. Mr Burnham, whose strong performances in leadership hustings have surprised Labour backbenchers and political pundits, calls for councils to be handed powers to increase their social housing stock by purchasing private rented homes in cases where landlords have allowed properties to fall into disrepair or misused the site. ‘I propose to give councils the extended prudential borrowing powers to enable them to purchase private-rented houses, if necessary using compulsory purchase,' Mr Burnham writes. He also claims Labour made a series of ‘mistakes' which blighted the party in government, citing the abolition of the 10p income tax rate – and a failure to respond to councils' concerns – as examples. ‘Had we worked more closely with our councillors, had we listened to them, we may not have made some of the mistakes that blighted Labour's time in government,' he says.

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WHITEHALL

Front-runner urges greater council ties

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