Arizona councillor was treating the voters with contempt

THE depths of contempt that the Liberal Democrats have for voters seems to have reached new lows.

Firstly Lib Dem councillor Philip Thompson thinks he can move to Arizona for three years and that constituents won't notice, then he claims he can provide an acceptable service to the ward via email!

Lib Dem leader Keith Moffitt initially backs the move, supporting (ex) Cllr Thompson's claims that virtual representation is acceptable. It simply isn't.

At least the U-turn came quickly, taking less than 24 hours. But when it did, Russell Eagling treated voters with more contempt by claiming Philip Thompson would not have had the support of the other Lib Dems had he decided to continue. Just 24 hours previously he'd had the full support of the Lib Dem leader of Camden Council!

Communications may have moved on (this was Keith Moffitt's excuse) but there's no replacement for seeing and experiencing the problems of the voters Cllr Thompson claimed to represent.

How was he supposed to be able to make a judgement about the seriousness or urgency of common complaints about housing, roads, or noise without being able to see and experience the issues for himself?

The nadir probably comes in a letter Cllr Thompson wrote to some of his constituents at the weekend. He tries to claim that being offered a place to study a PHD was ''a big surprise''. The arrogance is breathtaking.

So Philip, was it a big surprise that you found yourself researching PHD courses and institutions, or maybe it was a big surprise to be filling out the application forms?

It is possible that it was also a big surprise to suddenly find yourself applying for course funding, or a US visa.

It takes considerable time and effort to secure places on PhD courses and must have been planned for months.

Surely to claim otherwise leaves him open to the complaint that he tried to mislead us.

Sarah Hayward

Leighton Road, NW5