MARK Harper and the local Conservatives ask that we ignore the clear statements of intent by ministers to sell off the forest and to trust that it will be all right in the end!

Diana Edwards, Tory Deputy Leader of the Forest of Dean Council, seems hardly convinced herself when she says: "If it is the case that it won't be protected, Foresters can rest assured we will do everything we can to take action. But we have had the assurance of our MP Mark Harper and I'm sure he knows what he is talking about."

Oh well, that's ok then!

Confidence that the local Conservatives have got a grip on this issue was hardly bolstered when their local leader, Peter Amos said: "It doesn't matter who owns it as long as it stays in public ownership."

With the Public Bodies Bill going through Parliament now, we are asked to trust in a White Paper that will set out a range of options for the future of the Forest. If we believe the leaks, none of them will adequately safeguard the Forest of Dean as it is now. All of them signal the end of publicly owned and managed forests.

It will be 50 ways to leave your lover when we haven't even fallen out! 'None of the above' will not be on the list and such an option will only be achieved by amending the Public Bodies Bill now.

The Government's approach is based upon the premise that public ownership of our woodlands is bad – despite all the evidence to the contrary. So how can we trust our local MP, who has so far handled this issue so badly.

It remains unclear how the Government will determine which options for which forests will be applied. The break-up of the national estate will mean that the more profitable forests will be sold, leaving the rest even more dependent upon subsidy or even more at risk from measures to cut costs.

Even Mark Harper realises that talking about privatising the Forest is political suicide, so instead we are presented with the option of a transfer to a community interest body or a 'not-for-profit' business. But these will still have to cover their costs. Not-for-profit is also Not-for-loss. The only way to balance the books will be more commercial activities, big hikes in fees and charges alongside cuts in woodland management.

I am a keen supporter of social enterprise and mutual alternatives to private business. But under the Conservatives, there has been a cynical distortion of their values to privatise public services. Once transferred out of public ownership there is no way back. As we are witnessing in the NHS, many of these bodies seem almost designed to fail. When they do, the next inevitable step is into corporate ownership.

If Mark Harper thinks we are going to see his promised White Paper and wonder what all the fuss was about, he is mistaken. If he thinks the Forest community is going to trust some vague assurances wrapped up in the twisted use of language he does not understand the voters of the Forest of Dean.

Hands off our Forest. It must remain in public ownership and management.

Nigel Costley

Regional Secretary, South West TUC