I don't know what planet Linda Collins has been living on over the last year but based on her letter (Guardian, May 22) it certainly is not Lambeth.

Her suggestion that the council tax increase in Lambeth has been caused by something other than the previous Labour administration, the Government and Ken Livingstone is ridiculous.

Any Lambeth resident knows exactly why the council tax has risen this year. They know that Labour overspent the council's budget by £10 million in the last year of their rule in Lambeth. They also know that the Labour Government has failed to give Lambeth its fair share of the money allocated to councils. As a consequence, the council has had to make up the shortfall.

And then there is Red Ken he's helping himself to 23p of every pound we pay in council tax. An extra 29 per cent on last year to pay for the lousy public transport system and pot-holed roads.

The reality is that after decades of Labour's mismanagement of the finances at Lambeth Town Hall, the Con-LibDem administration is putting the finances back in order and delivering better services to Lambeth.

John Lamont

Dalkeith Road

West Dulwich

May 29, 2003 12:30