Council tax bills would be lower without debt

Anthony Ballinger, of Meadow Close, Kingskerswell, writes:

I read with interest in the MDA of April 10 that thanks to Anne-Marie Morris, we now know that the Lib Dem ruling party on Devon County Council have amassed debts of £617 million.

I wonder how much of this huge amount has been spent on projects directed at getting votes for the county council elections in June?

I expect many of your readers will be asking this question, while I am sure that there will be many voices shouting in concert that this is not the case, but can we beieve them?

Can anyone tell us how much of our council tax goes towards the repayment, together with interest, of this huge debt? Let's face it, without this massive borrowing our council tax bills would be much lower.

We also have a Labour government borrowing massive sums of money to rectify their mistakes by not controlling the banks since coming to power, whcih we, the tax payers, have to pay for. So not only do we have to pay back the money borrowed and spent by central covernment, we are also bearing the cost of excessive borrowing and spending at County Hall.

I also noted the comments of Cllr Alan Connett when he says that his party, the Lib Dems, are in control of Teignbridge Council with the help of independent members.

Surely there is no such thing as an independent person. Who do these so-called 'independents' vote for in parliamentary elections.

They must vote for some party, so why hide behind a veil of 'independnet' flag at local elections?

Is it confuse the voters, I ask myself, or even to sneak in by the back door and then align themselves to one or other party to get on to the winning side?

Let us hope that in the forthcoming elections on June 4 that voters will not be confused by the 'independent' candidates and vote for those who are prepared to nail their colours to the mast and show which party they support.