In a letter to the editor, County Councillor Geoff Driver, Leader of the Conservative Group on Lancashire County Council, writes:
I am writing in response to the letter from Marcus Johnstone in Wednesday's LEP. I hope nobody is fooled by Marcus's crocodile tears when he says "closing libraries will break my heart".
The simple fact is that he and his LCC Labour colleagues rejected the Conservative Group's alternative budget which would have kept every library in Lancashire open and would actually have left them with £1m more in the bank.
Of course, like every other local authority, LCC has faced reductions in Government Grant but the financial crisis it faces is caused by Labour's waste and incompetence.
They have spent tens of £m on consultants doing work their own staff are paid to do and they have spurned the lucrative financial opportunities, such as a £7m saving on fleet maintenance, left by the previous Conservative Administration. It is still not too late; if it will break your heart to close the libraries Marcus, then don't close them!
County Councillor Geoff Driver CBE
Leader, LCC Conservative Group