RE Labour have left centre to decline. I am not a member of any political party and therefore, I hope cannot be accused by our MP, Greg Mulholland, of adopting a partisan view.

I was very disappointed to read Greg’s letter (January 22) in which he made any number of points, some doubtless valid.

He did, however, in my opinion, somewhat diminish his role as Member of Parliament by engaging in some petty point scoring (a sin of which he accuses his opponents of committing, ironically).

To seriously suggest as he does that a council of whatever political persuasion would have been in a position to renovate the Civic Centre, given the straitened circumstances of the public finances at the time, is fanciful to say the least, irrespective of any hypothetical discussions his party might have had with itself several years ago.

He will insist on referring to the Otley Core as a “shop”, I assume to attempt to undermine what most residents I suspect believe is an excellent resource, and maybe even decent value for money. It is certainly a great deal more accessible for people with disabilities than the Civic Centre ever was.

What, I wonder, would Greg have preferred the Council to do in the lengthy interregnum between the Centre closing and reopening?

In his penultimate paragraph he attempts to face both ways, praising a local entrepreneur whose plans he approves of but which would preclude the Council moving back in any event.

Finally he states with either wishful thinking or hubris that the current council will leave office in May; should that be the case, where will his Liberal Democrat colleagues decide to call home I wonder?

Francis Denning

Cambridge Terrace, Otley