Letter: 'Loony left' borough that is now suffering under the 'loony right'

Sir: I write in response to Richard Buckley's letter (29 January). The man has no shame. The Tory administration in Brent claim to be 'simply the best', but nothing could be further from the truth.

Mr Buckley's is the administration that has underspent on its standard spending assessment for education by pounds 12m. This very week, school governors are meeting at a Willesden school to decide which three teachers to make redundant.

Figures published in the past fortnight show that Brent's three constituencies came first, third and fifth in a league table of all 651 constituencies for the largest growth in unemployment since the general election. These statistics are largely due to the 3,000 people Mr Buckley and his Tory colleagues have thrown on to the dole queue.

This administration has been censured by the Audit Commission for the way it privatised the refuse collection service. It has 'simply the worst' poll tax collection record. It has cut services to the frail and elderly. It has contracted out the coach escort service for those with learning difficulties. And it was only when threatened with legal action by Brent Labour Party that it abided by Home Office guidelines and reinstated 15,000 of the 26,000 residents it was attempting to delete from the Electoral Register. The list of its 'improvements' is never-ending, and I certainly would not describe them as being 'for the benefit of the people'.

Roll on 1994 and the return of a Labour council in Brent.

Yours sincerely,

ANNE HARRADINE

Brent Labour Party organiser

London, NW10

30 January