Dear Sir,

I feel I must reply to Cllr Blenkinsopp’s letter in last week’s Newton News.

When Cllr Blenkinsopp attends the meetings does he not take any notice as to what is happening and does he know the council rules?

I must advise him that I am an Independent and not an ‘Independent puppet’, as stated in his letter, and I do know, by the way that the other Independents vote, that they are not puppets.

Has Cllr Blenkinsopp not noticed that they vote the way it is best for the people that they represent and not the way the ruling Labour Party do en bloc?

So much for him being a decent Independent.

Why does he support and second everything that the Labour leader puts forward?

Is Cllr Blenkinsopp a Labour puppet or a Labour member?

As he has never supported the Independents for anything that they put forward for the good of Newton Aycliffe.

So will he be standing as Labour next time and stop misleading the people that he represents?

Alderman George Gray