YOU can always rely on Councillor Dorothy Gunther to get over-excited if she thinks she can score a political point (Your Letters, Feb 18). Common sense and logic are discarded and near hysteria takes over.

No one denies that in Bury, as elsewhere, there are deep-seated problems in the public housing sector, but to say that in Bury a huge amount of taxpayers' money will be spent is just not true.

The Housing Revenue Account is "ring fenced" from general council funds. Coun Gunther knows this and cannot claim she doesn't. But as I said, Coun Gunther is no stranger to outrageous claims.

Just over 12 months ago she claimed in a council meeting that "town centre traders are still reeling from the introduction of car park charges". At the same time the managers of Mill Gate were announcing that record numbers of shoppers were passing through the centre. But as I said . . .

I would remind Coun Gunther that we did inherit a near-bankrupt council in May 1986 after the Tories went on a pre-election "binge" in an effort to avoid defeat. We sorted out the mess we were left and we survived years of malice from one of the most wicked and vindictive governments that this country has ever seen. We were forced to make millions of pounds of cuts in services, but we are still here and in better shape and better heart than for many years.

The truth is that because we have a Labour Government willing and able to work with us, we now have stable finances. We are able to plan for the future. Just as the Labour Government has kicked out the Tories' "boom and bust" policies, so Labour in Bury is set on planned budgets and affordable services. How different from Coun Gunther and her colleagues.

She seems to have forgotten that only a year ago, when we were setting the council budget, the Conservatives proposed blowing most of our usable reserves with no regard to the future. Labour councillors resisted any temptation to gain quick and cheap popularity but preferred to set out a three-year budget plan - fully costed and well achievable within known finances.

When challenged about their blatant irresponsibility, a leading Tory said it didn't matter because he knew they wouldn't be in control of the council next year anyway so they wouldn't have had to worry about the mess.

So there you have the Tory philosophy. Complete irresponsibility, cheap election gimmicks and to hell with the future.

COUNCILLOR JOHN BYRNE,

deputy leader of the council.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.