The Enfield Independent and Enfield Advertiser have served our borough for decades. It is the only source of Enfield-dedicated reporting that residents receive through their doors on a weekly basis.

Despite journalism increasingly moving to digital platforms, the power of the printed word remains very powerful – especially when it comes to holding politicians to account. The Independent and Advertiser rightly deserve their reputations for investigative reporting. So long as their futures are secure, local democracy will remain strong.

That is why I have written to Enfield Borough Council’s leader Doug Taylor, urging his administration to stop undermining our local papers and to start supporting them.

These are the plain facts. A Freedom of Information request has revealed that in 2012/13, council spending on adverts and public notices in our two local papers was a healthy £150,523. Last year, it was a painfully-low £49,764. Government cuts, perhaps? No. Doug Taylor’s administration is choosing to spend £129,000 a year funding ‘Our Enfield’ – a glossy magazine that mostly features good news stories about Labour councillors. There is no room for critical analysis of council decisions whatsoever – only our local papers provide this, and yet their future is being undermined in favour of using public money to push out what is essentially a pro-Labour publication.

The MPs’ expenses scandal caused great damage to trust in politics. In many cases, anger has turned to apathy, which is dangerous for democracy. If our local papers continue to be undermined, democracy and engagement will suffer too. We cannot afford for that to happen.

I therefore urge Doug Taylor to put aside what’s best for the Labour Party in Enfield and do what’s best for residents: scrap Our Enfield and start supporting our local papers instead.

Nick de Bois

Former MP for Enfield North