I was rather astonished to hear that Liberal Democrat MPs had joined their Conservative colleagues in criticising the fact that more and more public sector workers are now earning six-figure salaries.

The MPs were angry to discover that the number of public sector employees on six-figure salaries had more than trebled over the last five years. They were getting boardroom levels of pay without being exposed to the risks of the private sector, said the MPs.

Forgive me if I've got this wrong, but isn't this the same Liberal Democrat party that controls Cornwall county council? And didn't the Liberal Democrat councillors award themselves - and the officers - huge salary increases last year? And didn't this push the top officers well into six-figures?

If the Liberal Democrat MPs think it is wrong for more and more government officials to be on six-figure salaries, surely the same must apply to county council staff? Or is it OK to pay public officials six-figure salaries when they work for a Liberal Democrat controlled authority? Perhaps Cornwall's five Liberal Democrat MPs can give us the answer to this question.

A Francis, Highertown, Truro