Here are six things we learnt from the Liberal Democrats' response to the Watford Observer's bus cuts story published on Tuesday.

1. It appears the Liberal Democrats have selective memories on this occasion. They bemoan the publicity given to Labour’s bus cuts petition, launched now, saying their own efforts have been ignored, but conveniently forget this newspaper publicised their petition in September.

2. And it seems they are guilty of sending mixed messages. On the one hand, county Lib Dem chairman Stephen Giles-Medhurst argues Watford’s Mayor Dorothy Thornhill was saying she was “about comfortable” with the consultation process, not the bus cut plans. On the other, just hours earlier, a county Lib Dem press release described the consultation process as “a sham” and included a quote from none other than county councillor Stephen Giles Medhurst.

3. Lib Dems are prone rush in to condemn something before they’ve properly read it. Either that or they are incapable of reading beyond the headline and first paragraph. The article did not state they were happy with the bus cuts or suggest they had done nothing to counter their impact. Comments in the story putting the whole thing in context appeared to be water off a duck’s back.

4. And it seems Lib Dems take the public for fools. The vast majority of right-minded people will clearly see that Labour’s petition so late in the day is an opportunist effort that will cut absolutely no ice with county hall mandarins, won’t make the slightest difference to the scale of the cuts, and represents little more than political posturing.

5. Some would say one of Dorothy Thornhill’s strongest features is her honesty. Sometimes she can be too honest for her own good. And, perhaps, here we have an example of that. She makes a perfectly reasonable statement that is endorsed by a political opponent. Both Mayor and MP will no doubt have put great pressure on County Hall to seek concessions on the original plan and they are no doubt satisfied they have achieved as much as possible in the circumstances. However, because this statement has some negative political connotations, those around her seek to deny it was said, even though she does not deny saying it.

6. Some of those surrounding the Mayor think a newspaper should roll over and play dead when they have publicly rubbished it and its reporter’s work by complaining said reporter has “totally misquoted” someone when there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that is the case. Well, think again.

Click here to read Mayor Dorothy Thornhill's letter regarding the story.