SOUTH Lakes MP Tim Farron has slammed attempts to overhaul local authorities amid the upheavals of Covid-19.

This week, Mr Farron spoke out against proposals for a top-down reorganisation of councils in Cumbria during the pandemic.

Speaking during a debate in Parliament, he said: “In the midst of the biggest crisis this country has faced since the Second World War, is it the wisest thing to spend the next few years engaging with a top-down restructuring of local government, therefore focusing local authorities’ efforts not on tackling the virus or on providing schooling or care or looking after our local communities, but on looking inwardly -navel contemplating; reorganising the deckchairs on the Titanic - when instead they should be focusing on serving their communities?

Responding to his intervention, the Deputy Chief Whip Stuart Andrew said: “I will certainly make sure that the Secretary of State has heard the views of the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale.”