Keir Starmer's Labour government is set to delay local elections for those councils who wish to again next year - someone scared by any chance? Right, so councils across England are being told they can delay local elections that were due next year. Not because of a war. Not because of a national emergency. But because central government is reorganising local authorities and says the timing is inconvenient. At the same time, the Prime Minister is reshaping how he allows himself to be questioned, moving away from collective press scrutiny toward more controlled, stage-managed access. Those two things are happening together, not years apart, not by accident. That matters, because elections and scrutiny are the two ways the public holds power to account. Delay one, and you’d better strengthen the other. Instead, both are being softened at the same ti ...