LAST Tuesday, August 31, I received a very important looking letter sent first class with the portcullis logo and House of Commons emblazoned on it.

I thought what an honour it was to receive such an important communication only to discover that all the people at our address on the voter poll had also received a letter, and, as I later found out, so had everyone else on the street. In fact people were asking each other in the pubs and shops 'did you get your letter?'

On opening the said missive I found it was from our social worker cum-MP, our man for all seasons, hats for all occasions, Hilton Dawson.

A letter written in very simplistic terms to tell me something I had already read in the papers, heard on the radio and saw and heard on TV. It made me feel that he thought he was still dealing with children when he, once again, told us the city was going to receive some financial aid next year.

He ended by asking me to fill in a pro-forma if I wished to kept up to date on the progress of the scheme...

of course I want to know what's happening in the area but I believe we still have a free press that can keep me informed. Therefore I do not need to be brainwashed by this man's propaganda machine.

He also asks if I had any suggestions on improving the city. My answer to this question would be for him to apply for the Chiltern Hundreds.

Finally, did we, the tax-payers, pay all these first-class stamps or was it the local Labour Party?

Mr D M Gillespie

Ullswater Road

Lancaster

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