Dear Sirs, As a Liberal Democrat activist in Beddington North where John Keys is a Councillor, I consider that he owes us an apology.

An elected Councillor has a right to defect if he can no longer subscribe to his party’s policies but he should make every effort to express his concerns within the party and to debate the issues that are troubling him.

I am not a councillor so I do not know what discussions John Keys has had with our lead Councillors. But I do know that he has never expressed any misgivings to us in the Beddington North ward committee.

In fact his record of attendance at ward meetings and on canvassing sessions has been abysmal, so we were unaware that he had any doubts about Liberal Democrat policies.

We first learnt that John Keys had defected, via The Guardian website, not from him personally, which I consider to be a disgraceful discourtesy on his part.

Activists of whatever party are unpaid volunteers and should be treated with respect by paid Councillors.

Apologise to us John. We worked hard for you and you have treated us with contempt.

Anne Singleton