I was disappointed to see York Labour’s latest attempt to set our communities against one other. They used a Westfield leaflet to try to create a grievance over the use of ward funding being spent on “…things like a travelling panto in Haxby and Wigginton”.

Readers may recall that, with coronavirus making a more traditional pantomime unviable, York Theatre Royal decided, instead, to perform a travelling panto in the run up to last Christmas.

This was actually supported by wards across York, including Labour wards, and visited venues city-wide, bringing much needed cheer to families for whom 2020 was a particularly tough year, wherever in the city they happened to live.

It is a real shame to see these efforts to bring our communities together so twisted to try and create divisions - and to see York Theatre Royal, who have done so much to open up access to performing arts, belittled in this way.

Cllr Andrew Hollyer,

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Haxby and Wigginton,

Oak Tree Court, Haxby