Following the inexorable steamroller of Tory austerity, which saw devastating cuts to local government budgets, then chief executive of Northamptonshire Council thought he had stumbled on innovation. "We are going to have a damn good go at it. I'd rather we go down trying than [do nothing] and go bankrupt", he said of the scheme in particularly prophetic language. After central government cuts forced the council to make £376m in savings since 2010, with an expected £111m in savings on annual spending expected by 2021, the council decided that the solution was to run like a public limited company. Services, which were the duty of the council to run, were outsourced to private firms, or run by mutual companies or social enterprises, all of which were free to turn a profit, which could then be reinvested in services. The logic is particularly Conservative, and as such, particularly ill-founded. A council is not a business. It exists to provide essential services on which people depend and which are a right in a developed country. In Northamptonshire, such a conflict is especially poignant. The number of residents aged over 65 is expected to increase by 28% by 2024, and there are record numbers of children being taken into care. In serving its citizens, a government must necessarily run a deficit. It cannot charge its people for the care they need. It is insensible, misguided and delusional to pretend that a council can turn a profit, or can run like a business. Technically, a council cannot go bankrupt, but the news means that central government fiscal intervention is going to be necessary. It is yet another example of Tory short term thinking giving rise to