Hammersmith and Fulham: Pickles and propaganda

Eric Pickles, the new local government secretary, has long hugged the Tory flagship borough's leader Stephen Greenhalgh close. But they don't agree on everything. As Shepherd's Bush blogger Chris Underwood reports, Pickles is taking steps to curb "propaganda on the rates": He's just announced a toughening up of rules governing taxpayer-funded council newspapers, such as H&F News, which he calls "Town Hall Pravdas". The goal is to apparently ensure a robust and healthy independent local press can continue to scrutinise the activities of local councils. Chris continues: Our own Council is one of the worst offenders in the country, with Conservative MPs slamming H&F News for being a propaganda organ dressed up as a legitimate newspaper. Now read on .