Was Pat his 'old mucker'?

I WOULD like to congratulate Ed Saunt on his excellent interview with Councillor Phil Andrews.

I would have liked to ask Mr Andrews a question of my own and wonder if he would give his answers to matters which he launched into the public domain in his own blog of May 10, 2009.

Speaking of Pat Cole, who was deputy chairman of the Independent Community Group (ICG), he stated: "In recent months Pat and the leadership of the group had become slightly estranged, a thing which was

entirely our fault but never intentional, as we all wrestled with the incredible demands on our time and energy of being so few involved closely - and disproportionately - in the everyday business of running a local authority."

Many who know Pat cannot imagine her having ill feeling towards the leadership of the group over abandonment lasting just months; my information and Mr Andrews' statement leads me to believe that no contact had been made between Mr Andrews and Pat since the 2006 local elections. If my advice is correct it would seem it is an insult, rather than an apology that Mr Andrews has penned. During my time as a member of the ICG commitee, Pat provided us not only with a venue to hold regular meetings but catered for us very well indeed, without any charge at all over a period of years.

With regard to 'Incredible demands on their time', Mr Andrews and family find enough time to pop over to Portugal during holidays, yet find it absolutely impossible to visit a lady who lives no more than three-quarters of a mile away from his home and has given him so much. Could an answer lie in the fact that Mr Andrews has never called Pat his 'old mucker'?

FRED MUSTON Ex-Isleworth ICG councillor