THE Labour spin-machine is alive in Radcliffe, isn’t it? Cllr Shori (Letters, August 6), winning by just nine votes, is desperate to justify himself but needs a history lesson. Labour wanted to close local schools in their last schools review.

They decided to merge the two Radcliffe secondary schools in 2004. Mr Ivan Lewis insisted that a local school in Prestwich was closed which is now extremely successful.

Cllr Shori quotes his age as some badge of honour, so perhaps I can too: I was still a pupil at the school during the early stages of the merger and in subsequent years saw the hopes of us all deteriorate as we realised the school was not forthcoming under Labour.

Why was this? The reasons are threefold. Firstly, there was never any money to pay for it. Receipt estimations from land sales abounded, but did his colleagues make preparations to sell even one of the two school sites? No. Secondly, the price of the East Lancs land, negotiated by his colleagues, was overvalued. The new Tory council stepped in and saved taxpayers over a million pounds, as reported in the press. But did Labour even manage to acquire this new chosen land? No. Finally, did Labour consider the restrictions implicating roll numbers when they caused all this mess? Well, no. Sounds like a high-risk gamble doesn’t it, Mr Shori? But you are conveniently not “interested in the past”.

During 22 long years of Labour control in Bury, why did they not even buy the land? Why did they not build the school?

There were nine Labour councillors in Radcliffe, so what exactly did they do for us? Conservatives have already built the new toilets; we will be opening up Blackburn Street in the New Year. The old hall’s sweet factory site, left derelict for years, will now be completely renovated.

The Conservative council has purchased the land for the new school. Nothing but a school will be built there. We have taken action with neighbouring schools to ease the pressures of borough-wide roll numbers. We have overseen a dedicated team of officers campaigning to get Bury atop the Building Schools for the Future league and are now in the best position we’ve ever been.

The truth is, when Mr Lewis was a finance minister, Bury received an exceptionally low grant from his Government, when he was an education minister he was desperate to close down local schools and when he was a health minister he was attempting to shut down the maternity unit at Fairfield Hospital.

The Conservatives, not only tasked with transforming a town with its heart ripped out, are further picking up the pieces to deliver this new school. However, if Mr Shori gratuitously insists on playing politics, spinning events as though his party is all of a sudden concerned by the situation, then we will insist on exposing his party’s calamitous record on it. When the government release the funds for the project, we can build the school. It is as simple as that. The Labour Party can organise as many publicity-marches as it wants, but you have had your chance and you blew it. Does Mr Shori now recognise that for this reason his party is seldom trusted locally?

Cllr Sam Hurst Radcliffe East