DO YOU remember Aesop’s Fables? I’m not sure if people still read Aesop’s fables, but if you did read these as a child, do you remember the story of the ant and the grasshopper?

The ant worked all summer long storing food for the winter, while the grasshopper rubbed his legs together to make his song and enjoyed himself, without worrying about the future. When winter came the grasshopper had no food stored away and he perished.

I was reminded of this fable when I compared the recent budgets of the Lib Dem Borough Council with the Conservative County Council.

The Lib Dems have worked hard for two years renegotiating the waste contract, saving £1.7M and restoring fortnightly brown bin collections.

They have spent the same amount of time selling off Cliftonville House, raising a large amount of money and saving overhead costs.

The result – a balanced budget, no cuts to frontline services and only a few redundancies, despite harsh Government cuts.

The Conservatives appear not to have expected these harsh cuts, because they have had to slash services severely – cuts to voluntary groups, cuts to speed cameras, cuts to lollipop men and ladies, cuts to the bus services and 900 redundancies.

It may be spring, but for the Conservatives winter has come early this year.