HOW disappointing it is that Councillor Adrian Shurmer, the lone independent who wields the powerful casting vote on Hyndburn Council, should be throwing tantrums today - boycotting meetings and claiming business is void unless he is there.

It may be that the elections last May put this outspoken new broom in a position of extraordinary influence. But that does not make him alone on the council. Nor does it make him infallible or omniscient.

Councillor Shurmer seems to forget that he represents not himself, but the people who elected him and, by virtue of his casting vote, everyone in Hyndburn.

That is a position that demands responsibility. He should live up to it.

He is, it seems, sulking because of what he sees as critical comment by a council official - over the sort of advice he listens to.

He may be still a newcomer, but he ought to realise that criticism comes with his role and that a wise councillor not only grows a thick skin and broad shoulders but also at least listens to his critics, even if he does not agree with them.

His L-plates are glowing embarrassingly red when he should have passed the test by now.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.