The future of Tower Hamlets Council’s East End Life publication is in doubt after opposition councillors put forward plans to remove its funding.
Labour and Conservative members voted together to force the borough’s Mayor Lutfur Rahman to consider an amendment to next year’s budget which scraps funding for the weekly newspaper.
The coalition government has confirmed it is looking to introduce legislation clamping down on Town Hall publications. Local government minister Brandon Lewis recently castigated Tower Hamlets Council for “waste and unnecessary spending” on its “Pravda”.
Labour and Tory councillors last night confirmed their intention to push for £1.2million in funding to the weekly free sheet to be scrapped, while Independent councillors voiced their continued support for the publication.
The amendment backed by Tory and Labour councillors will be considered by Mayor Rahman this week, before both his original budget and the amended version are voted on at an emergency meeting on Thursday.
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