I AM an active Labour party member and feel I should try to put some balance into your recent coverage.

Can I make the following brief points:

The ruling group of any political persuasion will always come under fire for perceived deficiencies – I'm sure the residents of Tunbridge Wells and Cobham, for example, are outraged by the state of their roads, street light malfunctions and paving, etc. They also have social care problems. They put their council tax up several per cent.

Yes, of course, keep a check on the council decisions on spending.

Personally I agree that a council newsletter may be wasteful (not sure as, after four months, I've never seen it!).

The parking charge increases should be reconsidered because they could well be counter-productive. Is there an overspend on the Hoylake project? Has the China trip produced results? Would taking services back in-house and stopping privatising help?

All good questions to keep everyone on their toes. But, never lose sight of the fact that the root cause of most problems is the last six years of Tory-driven austerity which, in my view, has retarded genuine economic growth. The figures show that growth had recommenced in 2010 (very slightly), but reversed under Osborne’s policies.

By all means keep criticising the Labour group in Wirral if justified – but, please, from time to time, raise your heads above the parapet and consider the bigger picture.

Steve Wheeler by email