TWO of your correspondents have (at great length) taken issue with my statement that the government and county council's proposed cuts are motivated as much by Conservative hatred of the public sector as by the need to cut the deficit.

Fortunately, I know how we can tell who is correct.

Once the deficit has been eliminated, will they restore our services, for instance by reopening our libraries and youth clubs, or will we find that we have lost them for ever?

SUSANNA PRESSEL, city councillor, Jericho & Osney, county councillor for West Central Oxford