Silverman must be turning in his grave

HUH! There we all were thinking that Burnley, Nelson and Colne

are typical working-class Lancashire mill-towns.

Okay, old king cotton has almost gone but we still have more people employed in the manufacturing industry than most areas and we still have a low wage economy, not to mention all those wards near the top of the league tables of what used to be called poverty and squalor and is now termed "deprivation".

But along comes the Guardian newspaper to put us right!

Pendle, it declared on Saturday, ranks with the East Riding of Yorkshire as a "middle class area".

All because we have more people here who had bothered to send back the pools coupon which this year classes as a ballot paper! Later the same day people collared me as I tramped round the back streets of Colne delivering leaflets.

What about the dodgy pavements? The boarded up houses? The anti-social neighbours? Or yet another post office they are closing down?

It's okay, I said - don't worry about these things, you're all middle class now!

Must be true - those journalists down in London said so!

Of course I said no such thing. But Sydney Silverman must be turning in his grave.

So why are both Pendle and Burnley near the top of the league for voter turnout - with some of the most "deprived" wards leading the lists?

The main reason is that we always are - it's a good habit!

The real sense of civic community in our towns may have faded a bit since the days when everyone swilled the flags outside their front doors, stoned the steps and painted the mortar. But it's still around.

There are other reasons this year. It's not just Asian voters who are angry over Iraq.

And the anti-European media are bringing out people who don't often bother.