AM I alone in feeling a sense of dismay and disillusionment as proceedings in the city council chamber in recent days took yet another turn in the downward spiral?

The tactics employed by some mature councillors bordered upon the politics of the playground.

It has been long acknowledged that the Labour Group, in not taking up its seats in the Cabinet, did so out of pure petulance because its members could not be in charge. Now we see the risible spectacle of the Conservatives and Lib Dem Groups following like Lemmings in their wake.

These actions spring from the sea of vitriol resulting from the District Auditor's report into the Blobby affair and his pillorying of Cllr Tricia Heath for stating the facts as she remembered them.

His main argument appeared to be hypothetical in that he did not believe that she would have acted differentially had she known the full facts at the time. This is a man who sits as both judge and jury and shelters behind his office, allowing no redress.

The supposedly main focus of the inquiry has been neatly obscured. Cllr Heath does not stand accused of the responsibility for the debacle of Crinkley Bottom, which cost all of us dearly. However, others who were at the centre of the original negotiations walk away from the whole sorry business.

The whole affair has a most unsavoury air of evasion and cover-up plus an overwhelming feeling of injustice and scapegoat about it. If this is what we have waited four long years for then I for one am far from being impressed!

T M Johnston,

Lancaster