WELCOME back, Bernard Slingsby (Letters, November 16). Sorry to say, however, that he has got it wrong again.

If he returns to my earlier letter concerning Jim Eagle, he will see that I was merely pointing out that I and my colleagues had subjected ourselves to the electorate and been re-elected, even where the market traders, with their "claimed" thousands of supporters, had stood against us.

Surely, as politicians, we had passed the acid test. For Bernard Slingsby to now ask us to now resign was ridiculous.

On the second issue, I was right to point out that Jim Eagle was a Lib-Dem candidate, which was not apparent or declared in his praise of the party. This can hardly be described as character assassination on my part.

There is another error in Bernard Slingsby's letter which does need correcting. While there may have been serious problems with the postal vote in some areas, everyone agreed that in Bury the whole process went well with hardly a hitch.

COUNCILLOR

JOHN BYRNE,

leader of the council.