I've noticed since the last local elections your letters page appears to have an almost addictive quality for Croydon's publicity hungry councillors.

To be frank, I find all of them, from whatever party, a disingenuous bunch. However, I'm starting to wonder if Tony Newman even lives in the borough.

Take his last offering (Letters, February 21). I had to laugh when I read Tony's less than subtle dig at the Conservatives for the latest council tax rise, which is odd in itself as it's lower than the last time he and his chums set it.

Maybe the following things didn't happen in Tony's alternative Croydon, but they sure happened here when Tony's party ran the Croydon circus.

In 2006 council tax rose by six per cent, in 2005 council tax rose by five per cent, in 2004 council tax rose by seven per cent.

But my favourite year was 2003 when council tax went up by a whopping 27 per cent. Let's not forget that Tony's Government now takes a larger proportion of our incomes in tax than at any other time in history.

Tony's Labour mayor of London also has no qualms about putting his hands in our pockets. No wonder most of us think politicians are detached from the real world. They spend all their time twisting facts and making futile attempts to make us think the past was the good old days - really how dumb do they think we are?

RACHEL MORGAN received by email