IN his reply (Letters, October 1) Councillor Pickstone says that I have missed the point over the Lib Dem's attitude to local groups on the Prestwich Area Board.

I don't think I have.

The Lib Dems' first action on taking control of the area board, after all their talk of inclusion, was to cynically try and cut the number of groups on it. After badly misjudging the reaction to this they have done a U-turn.

The Lib Dems and Coun Pickstone talk of "empowering the community". Did the Lib Dems have this in mind when they thought up their notion of "tough liberalism"? According to their spokesman on Home Affairs, Mark Oaten, this is where non-violent criminals are tried by the local community in "neighbourhood courts".

This is yet another populist attempt by the Lib Dems to get votes at any cost. In Parliament they voted against the Government's anti-social behaviour legislation, worrying more about the rights of criminals than of the rights of law-abiding citizens.

Perhaps then the Prestwich Lib Dems could contact their national office and ask:

1, Where would these "courts" sit?

2, Who selects the people that sit in these "courts"?

3, Who would vet their background?

4, Who would advise them that the judgements they reach are legal?

5, Where would the money come from to set them up; the Lib Dems proposed local income tax?

ALAN QUINN,

chairman,

Sedgley Labour Party.