The letter from Labour councillor Tim Young (Gazette, October 5) was lengthy but somewhat short on substance.
That said, I hope some good will have come from the “informal” meetings which he and colleagues had with the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and the Schools Minister at the Labour Party Conference, as confirmed by the posed photograph at what appears to be a fringe event.
What was missing from his letter, however, was any specific reference to the campaign to save Thomas Lord Audley and Alderman Blaxill secondary schools. Was the future of these two schools discussed? Did Tim and Co impress upon the two ministers that the people of Colchester have overwhelmingly rejected the schools reorganisation package put forward by the Conservative-run Essex County Council?
It would have been simple for the Labour councillors from Colchester – who last year voted to save these two schools – to confirm that they backed the people of this town, and the representations which I have made at Parliamentary level, that the closures do not make sense. Simple question: Did the Labour councillors urge the Government to stop the closure of Alderman Blaxill and Thomas Lord Audley schools?
Bob Russell,
MP for Colchester,
Magdalen Hall,
Wimpole Road,
Colchester
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