THE deputy leader of Wirral Council Labour group, Cllr George Davies, writes a response for Globe readers after the town hall administration was accused of a cover-up over the controversial issue of selling-off the peninsula's Green Belt land to developers.

Fuel was added to the fire yesterday when Tory group leader Cllr Ian Lewis claimed on this website that Labour's "shadowy advisers" were spinning a story to deflect blame.

Stick with your Globe for all the latest news on this important story for the future of Wirral's open spaces.

COUNCILLOR Ian Lewis falsely claims the "row" over Wirral's Green Belt is one engineered locally when all the evidence points to his party's failings in Westminster" said Cllr George Davies, writing exclusively for The Globe.

The current housing crisis is one directly traceable to the Conservatives inability to come clean about what our national housing policy is.

Kit Malthouse's appointment last month astonishingly made him this government's seventh housing minister in eight years - a record which makes being a football manager seem like a safe job!

Raab, Sharma, Barwell and Lewis. Hopkins, Prisk and Shapps.

They may sound like estate agents but these are the men who have flip-flopped in and out of the ministry at an alarming rate.

Some have been outspoken opponents of green belt developments others have agreed with wannabe Tory leader Jacob Rees -Mogg MP and Treasury number two Liz Truss MP in calling for 'Green Belt laws to be torn up!'

In the middle of all this chopping and changing, the Tories gave the job of forecasting future household numbers to the Office of National Statistics.

But when the ONS came back with figures which contradicted the previous housing minister's desire to build 300,000 new homes each year, they suddenly panicked.

Councillor Lewis doesn't seem to acknowledge housing demand in our borough is not the same as his Tory colleagues in London and the South East are demanding.

When it comes to understanding Wirral's needs, Cllr Lewis and his pals are detached from housing reality.

Wirral's population is ageing, Wirral needs more accommodation for older residents and people looking to downsize.

Residents want to stay in the communities where they live and have their roots and we need more starter homes and accommodation for young families and couples.

We need new laws to support us in getting to house builders who have thousands of outstanding planning permissions to start construction now or pay the penalty.

Wirral's council leader has written to the latest housing minister urging him to acknowledge the latest ONS numbers as the guide to the real number of new homes Wirral requires.

I call upon Cllr Lewis and the Tories in Wirral to come clean and respond to the consultation.

Why don't they make their submission public and tell us if they back Labour's call for the number to be closer to the 488 new homes suggested by the ONS forecasts or the 803 this Tory Government is currently demanding?