OUR local authority leaders who are fighting the threat of further harsh budget cuts have gained a surprising ally in recent weeks.

Alongside the names of Simon Henig (Durham), Nick Forbes (Newcastle) and numerous others, can be added that of Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary.

Yes, that Mr Pickles – the man who has rejoiced in the role of town hall axeman, batting away cries of pain as self-interested nonsense from wasteful council fat cats.

Behind the scenes, a new Eric has emerged, a leading member of what has been dubbed the “National Union of Ministers”, fighting cuts around the Cabinet table.

Mr Pickles has been told he will lose a further 7.2 per cent from his budget in 2015-16 – far more than he was expecting, on top of whopping 28 per cent cuts since 2010.

Westminster reporters have been briefed that Comrade Eric will not accept the latest reductions, because council services have “already been cut to the bone”.

Try not to laugh, or cry. Such rows are now dominating Cabinet meetings, with three months to go before a spending review – for 2015-16 and beyond – on June 26.

Next week’s Budget will confirm that £10bn a year must be cut from departmental spending, with the pain still to be divided up.

In the run up, George Osborne is being assaulted from left and right with demands for a U-turn, to “finally” kick-start the stagnant British economy.

Most notably, Vince Cable the left-leaning Liberal Democrat, has broken ranks to demand the chancellor abandon his refusal to borrow more money.

The Business Secretary believes the time has come for a £15bn splurge to fund housing and infrastructure projects, arguing it is crucial to economic growth.

And yet it appears the Budget will be dull, limited to a modest switch to capital spending and boosting Government guarantees to the banks, to revive lending.

Last week, David Cameron invoked Margaret Thatcher’s rejection of U-turns, as he insisted good times were coming, saying: “There really is no alternative.”

However, the plan is clearly failing, not working. In 2013-14, GDP output is expected to be a pitiful 1.5 per cent higher than at the 2010 election, when the original forecast was 8.3 per cent.

Three years of austerity have brought plunging living standards, soaring debt and the real threat of a triple-dip recession.

Leading economists are pleading with the Government to recognise that relying on record low interest rates alone for recovery is a terrible blunder.

And now, even arch-cutter Eric Pickles is telling the Chancellor the cuts have gone too far.

In such circumstances, Mr Osborne must know something others don’t, or he will go down as one of the least successful Chancellors in history.

MICHAEL GOVE, that crusader against “defeatism” in east Durham schools, found himself before MPs yesterday, answering allegations of bullying by his staff.

It was vintage stuff by the Education Secretary, who laid into Labour MPs for asking stupid questions and claimed to be unaware of some claims, despite front-page stories, My favourite bit came when Mr Gove suggested the education committee’s inquiry resembled Joe McCarthy’s notorious House of Un-American Activities Committee.