Lambeth council has spent £4,600 on a video about budget cuts

Lambeth council has come up with a great new way to piss off tax-payers – by spending a big wad of cash on a video about budget cuts.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that the council spent £4,630 on a video (clumsily named Tough Choices) to explain cuts to their budgets of 56 percent.

The council insists that the video is a 'worthwhile investment' to maintain communication during this time of austerity, but residents and campaigners are, naturally, pretty miffed with the pricey production. The three-minute video features some jazzy pie charts, moving typography and artsy footage of the area to explain the cuts and to drop the bombshell that it will be increasing taxes. 

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of grassroots campaign TaxPayers' Alliance has slammed the video as 'propaganda.' But in defence of the campaign, Lambeth's deputy leader for finance and investment, Councillor Paul McGlone, said: 'We have been very open about the cost of the budget video – and we believe that spending £4,600 is a worthwhile investment in helping to communicate important messages about the £200 million in cuts we have to make.' And those pie charts don't come cheap, y'know.

In other Lambeth news, the David Bowie mural is getting listed.