Stockport Council's leader Mark Roberts said he is 'proud' to defend the local authority's record as he faces down accusations from Labour he has been 'petty' and 'personal'.

This is following another row over whether different areas get enough funding.

A debate went to Parliament last week with Liberal Democrat-run Stockport Council criticised by the town's Labour MP for what Navendu Mishra believes is neglect of the areas he represents and in particular Reddish.

However local authority leadership argue they have been continuing to fight for fair funding and grants at every level so the whole borough can benefit and similar claims were 'irresponsible and completely untrue'. Liberal Democrat Hazel Grove MP Lisa Smart has also said the council spend three out of every £4 on social care leaving the council with 'far too limited' options.

While Mr Mishra argued during the July 1 debate both Labour and Conservative governments had not given enough funding to the borough, the Stockport MP said the council was making political choices to overlook Reddish amid concerns around 'ageing infrastructure, a lack of high-quality public facilities and the lack of investment'. He highlighted Reddish library among a number of other issues.

Mr Mishra said: "The leadership at Stockport council should stop looking for someone else to blame and explain to the good people of Reddish why their neighbourhood has been left behind."

However Stockport Council leader councillor Mark Roberts hit back saying Mr Mishra 'wasted an opportunity' and 'instead chose to use his privileged platform to simply try and score political points and point fingers away from the fact Labour have been letting Reddish down for a generation'.

He said the government was forcing the council to potentially close services due to a lack of funding, adding: "I'd encourage the MP to work constructively with the council for the benefit of his residents to make the most of the time he has left in post to ensure the best service can be provided within the limited funding envelope his government gives the council to work with."

This has prompted a further row with Mr Mishra saying he does 'not wish to get into petty personal comments', adding: "The residents in Reddish consistently tell me that they feel overlooked in terms of investment.

"I will not apologise for raising these issues in the House of Commons. I would welcome hearing from the leadership at Stockport Council what investment is forthcoming for Reddish."

He has been defended by Labour's group leader Cllr Rachel Wise said: "It is completely legitimate to ask the government for more money, and Nav was clear in the debate that governments of both colours have not funded Stockport properly.

"If the council's leadership wants investment from others, it must be prepared to explain the spending choices it's already making."

She accused Cllr Roberts of 'personal attacks' and 'finger-pointing' when the borough was seeing 'widening inequality' and argued this was being driven by council policy.

Cllr Wise said: "Until [the administration] engages in a meaningful dialogue about how it spends the money it has, and how it identifies and prioritises the areas that need attention most, the inequality gap in Stockport will not close any time soon. Reddish deserves better than a Council Leader who treats legitimate questions as an insult."

In response, Cllr Roberts said: "Labour are at risk of believing the spin in their own leaflets. They wilfully ignore the political choices that their government have made that mean Stockport will need to find savings of tens of millions of pounds over the next three years.

"They cannot criticise Conservative funding cuts and then pivot to blaming councils when their Labour government fails to fund us properly too. The vast majority of our spending is used to protect the most vulnerable residents in Stockport and addressing inequalities across the whole of the borough, that is something we are proud of."

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