Sir – Oxford Labour councillor John Tanner rails against the “authoritarian leadership” of Keith Mitchell at Oxfordshire County Council (Letters, May 26).
Maybe this is true, but a senior Labour councillor really should refrain from talking about authoritarianism, given the Labour group’s entirely authoritarian approach to running Oxford City Council.
One striking example is the Labour group’s determination to raze Temple Cowley pools and fitness centre to the ground, against the clearly expressed wishes of the thousands of East Oxford residents using that pool on a daily basis.
Labour wants to replace this pool with a totally unsuitable one at Blackbird Leys, also against the wishes of the local residents of Blackbird Leys who already have a perfectly good pool and don’t want to see it replaced by a white elephant catering mostly to elite and non-local swimming clubs.
A white elephant, moreover, located in entirely the wrong place for the population of East Oxford, who would have to travel there by car or bus instead of walking or cycling. Some ‘cleaner, greener Oxford’, Mr Tanner!
One really has to wonder why the Labour group is hell-bent on proceeding, against the wishes of the local population. Is it simply to prove who is in charge? Did someone mention authoritarianism?
Isaac Szobel, Steeple Aston
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