Ms J Hardy (Letters, October 12) is wrong to suggest the last Tory government was as equally irresponsible and unfair as the present government in singling out councils for council tax subsidies. Labour-controlled Brighton continued to receive the best settlement of any district council from the last Conservative government. This favourable treatment has meant, despite enormous increases in council tax since 1997, the city still has a lower council tax than many areas in Sussex.

-Coun Geoffrey Theobald, Dyke Road Avenue, Brighton