RIGHTLY the media has been highlighting the hypocrisy of our Witney MP, David Cameron, in writing to the county council objecting to cuts forced on the authority by his own government.

These cuts were, of course, covered up or denied by Mr Cameron during the recent General Election, at which I stood as Labour’s candidate in Witney. We fought the election campaign as a Labour team, to elect councillors as well as an MP, to work together under the banner ‘Team West Oxfordshire not Team Westminster’.

In hustings meeting and leaflets, Mr Cameron pledged to protect the best interests of West Oxfordshire. Instead, his government has continued to turn the screw, with West Oxfordshire bus services, road maintenance and flood prevention measures, pothole filling, children’s centres including Chipping Norton ACE Centre, day centres for the elderly, waste tips, respite care and support for carers and mobile libraries all under threat.

This happens while our (Conservative) Police Commissioner threatens legal action because the force is cut too far, NHS budgets creak and services shrink, and schools face staff shortages and budget crises.

Labour locally and nationally backs reform, but not these austerity measures, which are designed to shrink our services and which damage our economic recovery, as well as placing unfair burdens on our communities and the councils which serve them.

What does Mr Cameron offer? A ticking off from the policy unit at Number 10? This is like inviting the victims to discuss their blood groups with the vampires who bit their necks.

So I ask, did we get Team West Oxfordshire or Team Westminster back in May?

Duncan Enright
Leader of the Labour Group on West Oxfordshire District Council
Parliamentary Candidate for Witney