SO, Ed Turner, Labour deputy leader of Oxford City Council, has realised that local government has got a bad name (Oxford Mail, November 9). And he wonders why.

Ed, just look in the mirror.

What gives government a bad name is saying one thing and doing another. What gives the city council a bad name is acting like the county Conservatives and consulting people only to ignore them.

People were asked whether they thought closing loos was the right way to save money. They said no. Labour goes ahead with the closures.

It’s the same story time and again. Labour says anyone would have done the same thing, as if there’s no better way to save money. See something open, and Labour can’t resist the urge to close it.

And, in a move Ed will see as a New Labour masterstroke, they dress up closing loos as an ‘improvement’.

There will be, they say, one ‘world-class’ facility in the city, so who would need the others? Pity the poor person caught short on the other side of town.

It’s small comfort to the many to know the few can spend a penny in world-class style, whatever that means.

Let’s face it: this is a world-class cock-up by the world-class chumps who are failing to run our city. That’s how Labour is giving local government a bad name.

David Rundle Leader of the Opposition (LibDem) Oxford City Council