I REFER to Cllr Hayes' rant in his recent letter published July 7. If he thinks that Labour and Conservative voters would want their respective groups to power share with the Lib Dems, he must be daft.

I have to say that our own supporters made it quite clear to us that they did not want us to enter into any power share arrangement, particularly with the Lib Dems, especially after the Lib Dems spent the whole of last year harping on about a fictitious agreement between the Conservatives and the Labour Party.

I can confirm that the Lib Dems did offer the Conservatives a power share, but it was done because of the Lib Dems' lack of experienced councillors, not because of their eagerness to share, as they would wish everyone to believe. The Conservatives will take control of the council after the next election, and we will do it on our own, that is what our voters want, not a power share.

The Conservatives were happy to share the scrutiny in opposition with our Labour colleagues, and we went into negotiation on that premise, but what was offered was only one out of five of the scrutiny positions, which is hardly fair considering the Labour group are only one seat ahead of us.

We felt a three/two split in their favour was fair, and that is the stance we took. When it became apparent that there would be no agreement between the opposition parties, help was requested from the Lib Dem leadership. They declined to help and failed to vote against the Labour proposals, choosing to sit on their hands.

I get the impression that Cllr Hayes is obsessed with allowances, not, as he alleges, the Conservatives. If the Conservative Group were "in it for the money", we would have taken the positions, but we decided that our beliefs and policies were more important.

We will assume responsibility for the council when we have a majority, and we will do it on our terms. The Lib Dems pretend to be "all things to all men" and are known for their tendency to change their policies but we don't. We believe our policies are right and we will not compromise them when it comes to the crunch.

The Conservatives will contribute fully to the processes of the council over the next 12 months, tabling and pursuing our beliefs. If an issue or policy is for the benefit of the town, we will have no problem supporting it, but we are watching and we will expose the Lib Dems every step of the way!

Andy Morgan

Whip, Conservative Group