AS a life-long supporter of the Labour Party it pains me to have to write this letter, but the antics of the so-called cabinet of Harlow Council, in their attitude to the document Your Council Your Choice, makes me feel that I have no choice.

When this document came out on March 19 I wondered why it had not gone to every household in Harlow, so I went along to the chief executive comment line on March 23 to find out why.

For some reason it was cancelled on that day, so I asked to see someone from the department that had produced the booklet and met a senior council officer who explained to me that only 3,000 copies had been printed and it would be too expensive to send one to every household.

I asked who had made that decision and was told the department that had produced the booklet with the approval of members.

I asked what the cost would have been and was told £12,000.

From enquiries I made, it seems that the members who had made that decision were part of the inner cabinet, so these cabinet members had decided that the price of democracy in Harlow was £12,000.

As well as this decision being undemocratic, it seems no check was being made to see if you were a resident of Harlow when you applied for the book, and it was optional whether you put your address on the part you had to send back.

This document was the biggest travesty of democracy ever printed.

As a Labour supporter, what worries me more than anything else is that the incompetence of these people will backlash on our MP who has done, and is doing, a very good job for his constituents at local level.

|LES COBEN,

|Rectory Wood,

|Harlow