Sir – If I were councillor Bob Price and it was my party that had brought this country to its knees by consistently spending more than it earned and racked up an unsustainable level of debt in the process, I think I would have found a dark corner in which to hide my shame.

That Bob can publicly wring his hands because of the impact of necessary public spending cuts on Oxford city without acknowledging the cause demonstrates either a state of total denial of reality or a blatant attempt to pass the blame to the coalition that has inherited Labour’s financial shambles. I leave the electorate to decide which it is.

Keith Mitchell, Leader of the council, County Hall