INCORRECT & IMPROPER ALLEGATIONS - Letter (14/01/05)

Sir, I cannot allow incorrect and improper allegations from a Liberal Democrat county councillor to pass unchallenged. In a letter published on 23 December*, he claimed that 'the County Conservative Group voted for higher allowances than the Liberal Democrats proposed for the leader and other councillors'. Furthermore, it was claimed that we had not responded to this allegation. I wrote to their Taunton spokesman on 30 September when this story first was peddled in some Liberal Democrat document distributed in Taunton; despite two subsequent enquiries to his office, he has not had the courtesy to reply.

This allegation is untrue and indeed the Chief Executive of the County Council confirmed this in a letter to me, from which he gave me permission to quote. He wrote that, 'the records of the meeting indicate that the Conservative Group did not attempt to get members' allowances increased at that meeting.'

Whilst I fully accept the rough and tumble of politics, especially as the County Council elections loom in May, I do not accept the need to distort the truth with provocative insinuations about the integrity of Conservative county councillors. By all means attack policies and comment but for goodness sake let it be based on facts and the truth. One does despair at times. Let us concentrate on policies and how the County Council is run rather than trying to make pathetic petty political points.

Yours faithfully,

Christopher Wolverson, Leader of the Conservative Group, Somerset County Council.

*Somerset County Gazette