In your September 25 edition, Councillor Navin Shah attacks London Mayor Boris Johnson regarding fare increases needed to recoup the financial excesses of the Livingstone years.
The new Mayor of London has inherited exactly the sort of financial shambles bequeathed to this administration by Mr Shah when he was leader - budgets overrunning and out of control, next to no reserves, and yes, a black hole of £9million. That is not my figure alone, but the amount presented by officers to cabinet back in August 2006, when we as a new administration had to find such huge savings as a matter of urgency to avoid bankruptcy.
There is a theme developing here. Labour and Mr Shah left us with a financial shambles we had to sort out - and we have. Labour and Mayor Livingstone left Boris with a financial shambles to sort out - and he is doing so. Labour and Gordon Brown will leave David Cameron with a financial shambles to sort out when we Conservatives win the next general election - and David Cameron will sort it out. Literally, three strikes and they're out.
Conservative administrations spend your money carefully, and do not spend what we cannot afford. This can mean tough choices, which we have not shrunk from. Labour administrations spend your money with abandon - things look good on the surface, but underneath the edifice the finances are rotten. We have seen how this Labour government has spent up to the hilt, and put nothing aside for a more challenging financial environment.
COUNCILLOR DAVID ASHTON
Leader Harrow Council
