Surely, even in this brave new world of Tory austerity, Manchester City Council are going a bit far? 2000 job cuts I can understand. Sort of. Cutting back on libraries, nurseries and leisure facilities will reduce the quality of life in Manchester, but I can see the logic in these savings. But taking away public loos? That's taking the p*ss, literally.
It's far too extreme to only leave one public facility in the city, and it's way out of kilter with the national trend (around 40% of facilities cut). But it does grab a headline, and it will provoke a backlash - and maybe that's the point.
Manchester City Council is Labour-led, so is this a deliberate "up yours" to the slash-happy Coalition?
Nick Clegg pointed out that in his own constituency, Sheffield, the Lib Dem Council has only cut a couple of hundred jobs, and has avoided mass cutting of not only lavatories, but libraries and other publicly-funded institutions.
So, are Labour councillors being spiteful? Are they telling the Coalition: "You told us to cut, so we're cutting. See how you like it."
I can empathise with such a sentiment, and I can see how shock-cuts can be a useful, subversive political weapon for Labour in the longer term.
In the short-term, though, it is people who voted Labour in who, perversely, may suffer more than most from even more pronounced, even more reckless Coalition cuts.
Through Manchester City Council, Labour, it seems, are throwing a bit of a tantrum. Beware of flying toys.
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