I REALLY must take issue with M Weighman's letter in the Citizen of March 7. Surprisingly, I agree with the vast majority of his letter but I take great exception to him referring to Jack Croysdill's comments as being "left wing rhetoric".

If New Labour were even remotely left wing, would they have privatised Britain's air space, be savagely plundering pension schemes to the tune of £5 billion per year, be just as entrenched in sleaze as the Tories were by destroying democracy, have insulated pensioners with the miserly rise in pensions in 2000, be in the throes of privatising the Post Office, the Health Service etc, or be sitting back while the gap between the rich and poor gets even wider, not to mention the crippling poverty that so many suffer, from day to day in Blackpool?

I think not. Sounds to me more like "New Labour -- Same Old Tories"! My advice to Mr Weighman would be to rise from his obviously deep blue sea, bypass the equally deep blue skies of New Labour and clearly recognise that the left wing still resides in the "red sky at night, ordinary people's delight"!

Does he really believe that Socialists who voted for New Labour in overwhelming numbers in 1997, expected to be dished out more of the same as under 18 years of Conservative greed and selfishness?

Don't count the lowly 33 per cent who voted at the last election but concentrate on the 66 per cent of disillusioned voters who feel abandoned by all political parties.

John Finlay,

Faringdon Avenue,

Blackpool.