I would have thought that the Stroud M.P. would have sent her warmest congratulations to the successful councillors in the recent elections particularly as it ensures the excellent work done by the rainbow coalition will continue, unless of course there are any more cuts imposed by her colleagues in government.

It would be to her credit also if she could explain the lies she has associated herself with in the latest edition of the Tory comic, Stroud Matters. I think it is the utter audacity of some of the statements made but I suppose the fact they know thousands of people vote for them regardless, they can say whatever they like. In the centre page of the comic it says "stop wasting money". This is from a 'party that has wasted billions on contracts during the pandemic, is led by a clown who wasted £30plus million on a garden bridge that was never built, is wasting £100 billion on a railway line, tens of billions on nuclear war heads and in Wiltshire the Tories have just wasted more than £1 million trying to get a convicted criminal into the role of Police and crime commissioner but apparently nobody cares. It's only public money after all.

"Invest in our roads" is another headline. Yes, what a good idea that would be, but of course the shareholders have to be paid first. Perhaps some Tory voter could tell us all how our roads have improved since Glos Highways was privatised? Also, will we be "taking back control" of our 'Highways any time soon? Does anyone know where "Three Keys roundabout" is because apparently we have seen improvements there? In the same vein is another statement "Protect our communities from flooding". This it says will require a mix of tactical fixes, planning controls and strategic thinking. Really? A good start would be for the Tory county council to clear the drains. Does anyone in Shire Hall have the ability to think about why drains were put there in the first place?

Perhaps the most appalling of all is the claim that the Tories stopped the introduction of car parking charges in Nailsworth. It was they who came up with the idea in the first place but dropped it because it was pointed out to them it could lose them votes.

As we have come to expect the whole document is just a load of meaningless waffle but heh, who cares, people will still vote for us. If the Prime Minister can get away with it, why shouldn't we?

Howard Price.

Nailsworth