NORTH Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson is the consummate politician, a term I use as a compliment on this occasion and I know he is very pro-active when it comes to pounding the pavements, meeting people and getting to know what concerns them and their families.

And then there are politicians like Councillor David Renard who take to the streets prior to elections but can generally be found in the hallowed corridors of the Civic Offices defending his administration’s actions even when they are so clearly wrong.

The UKB Networks project is one such action. Having failed to deliver the much trumpeted Digital City Wi-Fi scheme, the council gave UKB a £1.5 million contract and permission to install a superfast broadband network which the council said was operational on 8 October 2012.

What is amazing is that neither UKB nor the council can or will provide any figures indicating the level of support for a project which allegedly cost over £1 million to install.

Frankly, I doubt UKBN will be open and tell the people of Swindon what they will really get for the £950,000 they are stumping up for yet another vanity project. As for any ‘performance’ guarantee from UKBN or its parent, that will be so favourable to the company and not the council that it will not be worth the paper it’s written on.

Justin Tomlinson is right when he says “no one asked for this scheme and no one wants it” but as ever the council leader knows best.

DES MORGAN Caraway Drive Swindon