IN reply to Blackburn Labour Party secretary Phil Riley (Letters, February 7), I admire his loyalty to Tony Blair, but I thought we had a Foreign Secretary to deal with foreign affairs. Or has Mr Blair lost faith in Blackburn's MP?

The fact is that 80,000 hospital operations have been cancelled, 600,000 street robberies committed, violent crime is up by 31 per cent, while part-time prison is proposed along with £10 gift vouchers for shoplifters on hard drugs, not to mention the post office, railways and teachers strikes taking place. Need I go on, Mr Riley?

If Mr Riley is so convinced that Labour is doing a good job, I would like to challenge him, or any member of his party, to a genuine open debate in a location of his choice to try and explain what improvements the Labour Government, or, for that matter, Blackburn with Darwen Council, has achieved over the last five years.

I fear he would prefer not to come under such scrutiny by the public. I wait with bated breath for his reply.

PAUL McGURTY, Wharfdale Close, Feniscowles, Blackburn.