County Cllr Brian Greenslade, of Barnstaple, writes:
May I through your column express my appreciation and congratulations to the Parliamentary Liberal Democrats for the support they have given in opposing the nakedly political order to create a unitary authority for Exeter.
Firstly to our Devon Members, Nick Harvey MP, Richard Younger-Ross MP, Baroness Miller and Lord Burnett. Secondly to Dan Rogerson MP who led for the Lib Dems in the Commons Committee where the Labour majority simply pushed the orders through. Thirdly to the Lib Dem Peers in the Lords who had the guts to oppose this wholly bad secondary legislation with an amendment which, had it been carried, would have defeated the Exeter Unitary order.
As subsequent voting on the Butler-Sloss amendment showed, there were enough votes in the Lords on the 22nd March to have carried the Lib Dem fatal amendment but the Conservative Peers refused to vote allowing Labour to push its order through.
After all the harsh words spoken by Conservatives about the Exeter Unitary bid this shows they put national party interest before the interests of Devon. Conservative county councillors have every right to feel badly let down.
Let us hope the courts will recognise that the secondary legislation which was not supported by the government's own criteria for structural change in local government, not supported by the Boundary Committee, which was the cause of extreme concern to the Merits Committee and the Joint Committee of Parliament and which was regretted by the Lords needs to be overturned in the interests of sound local government for the whole of Devon.
Finally let us never forget that we are in this situation because of the political self interest of Ben Bradshaw MP and the Labour Party in Exeter.