Sir, – Spectator makes a timely comment (D&S, Nov 20) on the Richmondshire District Council propaganda sheet, The Curlew, as the latest edition comes slithering through our letter boxes.

Here are a few of the facts that Couns Butler and Steckles have forgotten to include in their “official”

communications.

The headline is “Council Goes Local” – so where has it been since 1974?

Trumpeting the setting up of area partnerships they forget to tell us that there is no funding for this initiative. The Tories are asking for £500,000 pounds to keep it going. Can we afford it? I think not.

They have also forgotten to let people know about the £700,000 earmarked for new IT systems with only half that amount actually available – a large (£300,000) black hole.

Then they forget about the £2,500,000 which they borrowed over the past two years, £1m of which was to be invested to earn interest for the council.

Yes, you’ve guessed it, Tory councillors lost us over £60,000 with their bad investments and we will have to foot the bill – again.

Couns Alderson, Loadman, Johnson and Peacock were elected as Independents but the next day joined the Tory group and party. This has cost us about £15,000 a year in incentives – in the form of paid positions on the local authority.

Coun Lord was offered similar incentives to join at a later date but sadly, for him, lost his incentives very quickly.

Then there’s the £15,000 a year to provide office accommodation and officer support to the Tory leaders of the council.

The second lead story covers the “good news” about shared services which “could bring efficiency savings of up to £750,000 by 2013”.

The important words here are “could” and “up to”. If we are in the best of worlds and the full amount is realised, then Richmondshire would benefit by about £300,000.

Add up the amounts listed in this letter, deduct the best-case scenario for savings and what do we get? A great big black hole in council finances, caused entirely by Tory mismanagement.

Surely we deserve better.

And so it goes on. But does the Curlew tell you any of this?

Of course not. It is, as Spectator rightly says, a propaganda sheet costing £11,500 a year.

Coun STUART PARSONS Frenchgate, Richmond.