THE famous Kitchener poster could well have been given a local makeover by Herefordshire Council’s leader-elect.

Your County Needs You was the message Tony Johnson sent out to our two MPs in a moment of desperation.

He believes his down-to-the bone authority cannot sustain the ever-increasing year-onyear savings demanded by the Tory government in Westminster.

And he quite rightly points out that our parliamentary representatives must start to speak up about the council’s plight as it struggles to cut where it can.

The overall scale of current and future care costs alone is frightening.

So Jesse Norman and Bill Wiggin need to stand shoulder to shoulder with our local councillors and at least explore the opportunities in Cllr Johnson’s considered suggestion of combining health and care budgets.

Admittedly, that is not so easy when, for instance, cashstrapped Wye Valley NHS Trust has serious cost pressures of its own.

The answers will be as tough to find as the decisions are to take. But bold thinking is needed if a Herefordshire Council is to survive.

The message from our Tory controlled council to our Tory MPs is clear: ‘We’re all in this together – aren’t we?’

Click here to read the story about Councillor Tony Johnson's warning to Jesse Norman and Bill Wiggin that “enough is enough”.