A political battle has broken out in the fair town of Witney – with the two main parties jockeying for position on the vexed subject of our age.

No not civil liberties, terrorism, immigration or unemployment... this row sees opponents trying to outdo each other on the issue of ‘value for money’.

The Conservatives are refusing to contest a town council by-election, caused by the unceremonious removal of Tory Louise Chapman, who lost her seat after failing to attend council meetings for six months.

The party says holding a by-election would be a “total waste of money” because the entire council is up for re-election next May anyway.

In fact, as a by-election would not take place until the new year, the new councillor would only have their feet under the table for a little over four months, making the £2,000 showdown even more wasteful in these straitened times.

Shrugging off criticisms of profligacy, however, Labour are diving in, keen to increase their profile in Prime Minister David Cameron’s constituency. And, rather cleverly, they have played their own ‘thrift card’ by accusing the Conservatives of wasting money.

“It’s not me that’s wasting the public money,” argues candidate Duncan Enright. “It is the Conservative councillor who stood down.”

And the view of the Greens, whose whole ethos revolves around cutting waste? Well, spokesman Richard Dossett-Davies seemed unbothered at the cost, telling this paper: “I think it would be pretty definite that the Greens will be contesting it.”

Of course more mischievous souls have suggested the Conservatives may have another reason for not standing, like not risking the embarrassment of losing ground in one of the safest Tory areas in the land. Oh Louise... what have you started?

CONSERVATIVE MEP James Elles says his campaign to get better communications across Oxfordshire has reached an impasse after, er, communications within his own party failed.

Mr Elles has been lobbying for better broadband Internet and mobile phone coverage, but is struggling to get county council leader Keith Mitchell’s support.

He said: “Whenever I have tried to contact the leader about this issue, I have had no reply.”

The Insider would suggest Mr Elles writes a letter the old-fashioned way. But then again, you cannot trust the post these days either. Carrier pigeon perhaps?

IS Wantage MP and Culture Minister Ed Vaizey losing his love for new media? There are plenty of interesting items on his website, but the blog has only been updated on an infrequent basis since June, although there are regular tweets on Twitter.

Here is a not exactly engrossing update from vaizey.com: “Friday, October 22, Ed met with the Director of Oxford Inspires, an organisation that supports cultural initiatives across Oxfordshire. Their discussion included how Ed could help Oxford’s bid to become the World Book Capital for 2014, the cultural Olympiad which is part of the Olympic Cultural Festival, and the role of Oxford Inspires in the Big Society.”

Mr Vaizey’s assistant Oliver Diamond confessed: “Ed writes various blogs and it’s all authentic, so the one for his own website may have got neglected.”