WE’VE all been there – pressed the ‘send’ button on an e-mail and immediately recoiled in horror when we realise it’s reached an unintended target.

The city council’s new deputy leader Geoff Williams probably had that feeling while sitting down at his computer last week to put the world to rights. For the best part of three weeks, the Guildhall’s new Labour leadership has played a game of cat and mouse with Tories over its plans for Worcester.

The Conservatives want to know what Labour and the Lib Dems are basing their new ‘agreement’ on after coming together to pull off last month’s shock coup. Here at WN towers, we’ve been sent various bits of information and done our best to look at the policies they want to pursue.

But the Tories have been irked that they haven’t seen a shred of first-hand detail – until now, that is.

Coun Williams has gone and sent Roger Knight, a leading Worcester Tory, an e-mail entitled CONFIDENTIAL, spilling the beans.

Funnily enough there are two councillors called Roger at the Guildhall – the other being new Labour cabinet member Roger Berry, which one assumes it was intended for.

The agreement, typically light on policy and pretty bland, does shine a light on the way both parties intend to work, saying they will “discuss differences at the earliest opportunity”

and “agree to be open with each other”

in a bid to ensure it doesn’t collapse.

Social and affordable housing, a “positive commitment to regeneration”

and youth unemployment are the areas of focus particularly cited in the deal, but again no firm policies.

It also talks of only using reserves in “exceptional circumstances” and insists keeping services in-house will be “encouraged” where it will lead to savings, a warning to all those who think handing over departments to outside providers will be a sure thing.

But the fact Labour inadvertently sent it to a Tory at all is causing much amusement, especially when new leader Coun Adrian Gregson was asked for a copy of it two weeks ago by Tory Marc Bayliss, only to get a flat refusal.

True to form, Coun Bayliss went onto Twitter this week to declare: “Now we know why Labour wouldn’t provide copy of agreement with Lib Dems and Green – there wasn’t one.”

Meanwhile Coun Simon Geraghty, the former Tory leader of the authority, has told The Source his rivals have made a “bumbling” error. Still, Coun Gregson might not give a hoots either way. He’s been too busy this week suggesting the Worcester News are indulging in “dangerous” headlines for daring to tell you the average city council worker takes nearly 12 days off sick.