Saints ward councillor Mohamad Yasin has joined the Liberal Democrat group on Luton Council.

“I cannot go on pretending. How can I stay in a party which supports the bombing of innocent civilians at prayer and which continually undermines the principles of first class free education and health care?” he says.

“For a long time I have been concerned that the Labour Party is no longer the party I joined all those years ago. I strongly support the principled stand taken by the Liberal Democrats against students being saddled with huge debts as a result of Labour loans schemes and tuition fees. I have a huge admiration for nursing staff in NHS hospitals. Who would have believed that after seven years of Labour government we would still be putting them under the stress we do though staff shortages?

“The final straw is the occupation of Iraq by British and US forces. We were taken into a war which was probably illegal on the basis of misleading claims which have proved to be false. The suffering of the civilian population and the latest bombing of the mosque in Fuluja is indefensible and hardly anyone believes that Bush and Blair really have a workable plan to get Iraq back to peace and stability.”

Leader of the Council, Liberal Democrat councillor David Franks says he is delighted to welcome Councillor Yasin. “We have a big job to do to achieve our objective of making Luton a noticeably better place to live and I know that Yasin will make a significant contribution. We are all looking forward to working with him.”