1 February 2005

Dear Cllr Roberts,

I am in receipt of your undated, handwritten note in reply to my letter of 22 December 2004 regarding the above in which you say the contents of my letter "will be noted".

That, I’m afraid, falls way short of what I expected.

If I could remind you that, at the meeting of county council on 16 December 2004, you were one of several members of the Independent Political (sic) Group who tried to shout me down when I sought to obtain information about this subject.

As far as I am concerned, your actions that day mean that you have publicly allied yourself to what I believe to be a concerted attempt to interfere with my rights to freedom of speech with the aim of concealing the truth about this affair from the public.

As I explained in my previous letter, the issue is perfectly straightforward.

On his way back from London on 1 February 2001, Cllr Brian Hall bought lunch at the First Motorway Service Station near Magor at 13.08 pm.

According to his expense claim, at 1400 hrs on the same day, he was leaving Pembroke Dock to attend a meeting at the offices of Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council at Penllergaer for which return journey he claimed £63.

Either you are able to offer an explanation as to how Cllr Hall managed eat lunch and make the 125 mile journey from Magor to Pembroke Dock in 52 minutes, or you are happy to serve in the Cabinet alongside someone who claims expenses for journeys which conventional physics suggests he couldn’t possibly have made.

Which is it?

I will be more than happy to publish your reply, once it is to hand.

Yours sincerely