I went to my first council meeting on October 8 to make an address to council. I also remained to witness a petition to save Temple Cowley Pool and leisure centre be debated.

I was truly appalled and disgusted by what I witnessed in terms of the Labour councillors’ behaviour.

There was no respect shown to the petitioner or the people who had signed the petition (more than 2,000 signatures I believe).

The younger councillors ignored the debate, looking at a magazine and chuckling to themselves in a juvenile manner.

The older Labour councillors noted that those in the gallery (including me) were not intelligent enough to understand the issues regarding the financial details and their plans regarding the pool.

They also noted that they were in power and therefore did not have to listen to the people.

That, if anything, indicated to me that they did not understand their responsibility to the people or the definition of democracy.

They were incredibly patronising and represented themselves very poorly.

What do we (the people) now do, when we witness a dictatorship style in council, where the members of the party in power do not appear to understand their responsibility to appropriately represent the people who voted them, in good faith, into power?

Labour no longer get a vote from me (university educated)!

Amanda Perry, Blackbird Leys