IF THE Conservative-led Uttlesford District Council was able to invest £2.2 million with Landsbanki in October 2007, the Conservatives claim that the council had been brought to the verge of bankruptcy by the previous administration is not true. A counci

IF THE Conservative-led Uttlesford District Council was able to invest £2.2 million with Landsbanki in October 2007, the Conservatives' claim that the council had been brought to the verge of bankruptcy by the previous administration is not true. A council with £14 million in the bank is not a bankrupt council.

The Conservatives' claim that they inherited a £1.5 million deficit from the previous administration doesn't stand up to scrutiny either. When they took power in Uttlesford in May 2007, the Conservatives inherited a half-million pound budget error - a problem but not a disaster. Instead of dealing responsibly with the problem, the Conservatives put their own narrow political agenda ahead of the best interests of local residents. They wanted to reduce the number and quality of services provided by the council.

They took the opportunity to pad out the half-million deficit by a further half million in redundancy costs in order to achieve the cuts in services they desired. As a result, the council's capacity to fight airport expansion has been diminished to the point of non-existence.

The Conservatives claimed a further half a million of budgeted income wouldn't arrive when it did.

Paul Westlake, Saffron Walden