Utter contempt for the electorate

Last week in your letters pages Councillor Henig advocated "fair, honest and open political debate" - fine words, rendered hollow by his persistent refusal to discuss or explain how and why senior officers misled the council over Crinkley Bottom, and by his distortion of the truth about the "flow of letters" since the settlement with Unique. The primary purpose of those letters has been to seek explanations for what has happened rather than merely to apportion blame. Only when explanations have been given can the question of blame be considered. And even then, the principal objective of enquiry is not to make life uncomfortable for some individuals (although that may inevitably follow), even less to make party political points. The whole point of the clamour is to find out why things went so badly wrong in order to prevent a recurrence. That cannot be done without full and accurate information. Yet Councillor Henig and his supporters, of whichever party, refuse even to look into the matter, let alone discuss it. So much for "fair, honest and open political debate". The reality is, rather, a sustained and deliberate silence, indicative of disdain for the truth and utter contempt for the electorate.