I WAS astounded to read the rant on the Wirral Globe website from the Labour Leader of the council, particularly with regard to the question on the extraction of fossil fuels.

It's a bit rich of the Leader of the Council to question my position and the position of Wirral Conservatives when it was his party leader Ed Miliband who with the Coal Authority granted the first 14 licences for undergound coal gasification in 2009/10, including one in Liverpool Bay.

He talks of the Notice of Motion in 2011 but does not mention the Notice of Motion submitted by local Conservatives to the council last month affirming its opposition to fracking, UCG and Coal Bed Methane.

Sadly his predecessor refused to allow this to be debated at council.

I have said quite clearly and publicly I do not support UCG in the Dee Estuary, and it is quite clear this won’t happen unless Wirral Council grant permission.

Protecting this area should not be a party political issue and I’m really disappointed that the Labour Party have resorted to this desperate scaremongering.

The people of Wirral West will not be taken in by this and will see it for what it is.

Surely it would be better for everyone if local politicians put their party allegiances to one side and worked together to protect our local area. That is certainly what I am willing to do.

Esther McVey, Wirral West MP.