IN reply to Michael Madigan (Letters, November 2), I am more than surprised that he is a salaried officer in the local Ethnic Minority Development Association in Blackburn, which, as its title clearly indicates, represents and deals specifically with a defined and identified group of people in the community.

Mr Madigan's memory needs refreshing. Last year (Letters, December 30), he set out in firm, unqualified and trenchant terms total opposition to black group representation in any shape or form.

This followed his attendance at Lancashire police headquarters at Hutton, where it was announced that, along with other police authorities, a black section had been introduced into the county police force.

This was well received by an Asian representative attending who congratulated Lancashire on its initiative.

Mr Madigan last December took a totally opposite view - that a black section was a retrograde step, which "by definition segregates rather than integrates," was a "divisive forum," and an "apartheid system of representation."

He also indicated that black groups were foreign bodies generally rejected by trade unions and political parties. This is, of course, patently not true.

Where does this leave us? Clearly, we need some explanation from a person who, on one hand pockets regularly a salary cheque and, on the other, seems to think that his employer should not exist in the first place.

M PERVIZ, Whittaker Street, Blackburn.

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