THE message coming out of the Blackburn communities of Audley, Bastwell and Queen's Park is loud and clear.

The six councillors elected on a Labour mandate have let the electorate down by their decision to jump ship and become independent councillors.

Many people in the council wards have expressed their annoyance, even anger, at the six who were elected as Labour councillors by Labour voters. Now the six are climbing into the political bed with Conservative and LibDem councillors.

But aside from what amounts to a moral issue, there is a pragmatic issue. There are the practicalities of three separate political groups sharing the running of a powerful unitary authority. How can councillors from diametrically opposed sides - at least up until around 10 days ago - work together in a three-way coalition that will benefit the borough?

After all, it is only a matter of weeks ago that the Conservatives were calling for the head of Mahfooz Hussain, the council's head of education. Now those same Conservative councillors are expected to work with Mahfooz Hussain for the benefit of Blackburn with Darwen.

We have to seriously question the wisdom of the Conservatives and LibDems who seem to be putting their desire for power way ahead of ethical considerations.

The new alliance is built on a lack of principle and, with such shaky foundations, is unlikely to survive in the long term.