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Departure surprise
• I READ your account of James Kempton’s resignation as leader of the council, and was surprised to find I did not recognise much of what I was reading (Town Hall leader departs after budget humiliation, April 10).
I have been one of James’s deputy leaders, his confidante and good friend for three years now, and I was as surprised as anyone else when he told me he was resigning.
There was no pressure from anyone in the Liberal Democrat group for him to do this at all. James has a huge amount of respect and admiration from all our Liberal Democrat councillors and party members for the way he has delivered a more listening, greener and well-run council which, under his leadership, has received the highest possible score of “excellent and improving strongly” by the government’s Audit Commission, a far cry from 2002 when we were at the bottom of the league.
James has been honest with people about his reasons for stepping down – yet you have chosen to believe the Labour spin.
We were not able to get our budget through because Labour shamelessly took advantage of one of our councillors being in hospital to inflict the highest council tax rise in inner London on residents to pay for their proposal to give free school meals to all children who attend Islington primary schools, not just the poorest.
No one blames James for one of our councillors being in hospital, but from what people are telling me on the doorsteps they do blame Labour for this opportunist council tax hike in the middle of the recession, and they will be making their views known at the next local elections in 2010.
CLLR LUCY WATT
Joint Lib Dem deputy council leader
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