AT THE start of the Wiltshire Council meeting to discuss where future parish boundaries would be, the leader of the Conservative group stated that they would not be under a party whip as the decisions were not of a political nature. The acting leader of the Liberal Democrats was strangely silent on the topic – later we would all find out why.

Although the cabinet members did seem to vote very much as one, the Conservatives did, on the whole, appear to have a free vote.

However, the same cannot be said for the Lib Dems. Either they were whipped to within an inch of their lives or they all have telepathic powers. Time after time the electronic vote shows them to be voting en bloc – and nearly always in support of the Trowbridge Town Council proposals. It has been suggested to me that this was due to the fact that the town council has a Lib Dem majority and it (the town council) was ‘calling in’ favours from political colleagues at County Hall.

I sincerely hope this was not the case, but a fair-minded individual might conclude that it was.

Do phrases on their website such as “It is important that all people are heard” and the proclamation that the views of local people “are reflected in the decision-making process” actually count for anything, or are they merely sound bites to appeal to voters?

Can the Lib Dem leader at Wiltshire Council publicly explain exactly what went on and why? Currently the group would seem to be Liberal, but far from democratic.

Cllr Ernie Clark, Independent Group leader, Wiltshire Council