BLACKBURN with Darwen borough leader Kate Hollern has been told to write to Chancellor George Osborne objecting to his letter to all taxpayers summarising how government cash is spent.

The decision followed a bitter debate at the full Council Forum meeting.

Marsh House Labour councillor moved a motion opposing the £5 million spent on the 'misleading' leaflet claiming it was a 'cynical' misuse of public funds for Tory Party propaganda in advance of next year's general election.

He attacked its focus on welfare spending as a quarter of the government's budget as an attack on the working poor ,families, the elderly and disabled.

Fernhurst Tory councillor John Slater said he was happy to campaign on cutting welfare spending.

Borough Tory group leader Mike Lee said the coalition government had taken thousands of people out of tax altogether since 2010.

He said people had the same right to know how their direct national taxes were spent as how their council tax was spent.

The motion was passed with an amendment from LibDem leader David Foster asking for any future summaries to be compiled by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility not the Treasury to ensure impartiality and accuracy.