Mr Ashton's letter (Harrow Observer, July 24) indicates that I seem to have touched a raw nerve and that as the new leader of the Labour group I must be doing something right.

I can assure Mr Ashton that I am not in 'anguish' but just in despair at the way he and his party are totally ruining Harrow town centre. I do not believe I am alone in this.

The Labour group was calling attention to the fact that it is impossible to have a proper debate or discussion about the future of the town centre or other major developments within the current council structure.

Mr Ashton forgets that under the previous Labour administration all major developments were discussed and, yes, agreed, including by him, on a cross-party basis both in the multi-party cabinet and in the cross-party town centre and major projects panel.

Mr Ashton also conveniently forgets that he and his colleagues agreed to the proposed development of the Gayton Road site with a new library and performance and exhibition space at the cabinet meeting in December 2006 and further commended a scrutiny report on it in summer 2007.

It was then suddenly, without consultation, that he and his colleagues decided to dump the new library and performance space and Mrs Ashton peremptorily abolished the town centre and major projects panel in autumn 2007.

Since then any discussion has been totally suppressed. Attempts by councillors of all parties to back bench at planning committee meetings on major developments have been artificially and dramatically curtailed.

Maybe some of their backbenchers would have been critical of what they are doing. All attempts to have a debate at full council have also been turned down.

The independent scrutiny committee decided after considerable debate that it wanted to conduct a review totally devoted to the town centre.

Although this had been agreed on a cross-party basis, Mr Ashton decided that this was not what he wanted and insisted that the scope of the review be changed.

This is totally against the whole spirit and rules of the scrutiny function which should be completely independent of the executive.

I am afraid Mr Ashton either does not understand the role of scrutiny or he is quite deliberately trying to subvert it.

Readers of the Harrow Observer must be wondering why the Tories are so frightened to debate the future of the town centre.

Is it because they have made such an awful mess of it? I challenge them to hold a public debate on this issue with an independent chairman so that local residents can hear the different points of view and so that they can make their own views known.

BILL STEPHENSON Leader Labour Group (Harrow Council)