AS Phil Riley, secretary Blackburn (New) Labour Party, obviously scans your pages searching for any criticism of the Government, I find it curious that he chose to respond (Letters, June 11) to the earlier comments by David D'Arcy, of Blackburn Liberal Democrats, about the treatment of senior citizens.

Many pensioners, I am sure, would have found it far more relevant to see a response to the article earlier in the month headlined "Castle accuses Labour of destroying pensioners," in which Baroness Castle castigated Labour's Green Paper on retirement income, saying: "The aim as usual is cost cutting."

She also stated that "the government proposals are merely a slightly-improved version of the Tory policy which set out to destroy state insurance and to substitute a means-tested safety net for the poor.

The assumption that decent state pensions are unaffordable is based on no real evidence."

I wonder if Mr Riley considers that Barbara Castle, like David D'Arcy, was "lashing out wildly" or was making "uninformed and inaccurate remarks?"

I await his next correspondence on this issue with some interest.

KEVIN CONNOR, Blackburn with Darwen Liberal Democrats, Elswick Street, Darwen.

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