THE disgraceful scenes which took place before a meeting at Nelson Town Hall leave a nasty taste in the mouth.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Tony Greaves threatened Labour leader Azhar Ali with violence and launched a verbal attack after a call by Labour for a council ethical standards committee to investigate Liberal councillor Safdar Hussein's discount air tickets on a fact-finding delegation to Kashmir.

He went on to launch a second verbal attack on former mayor Frank Clifford, again using lower deck language.

Just who does Tony Greaves think he is?

He is not even an elected member. In their wisdom, the electorate booted him off Pendle Council.

There is no place for this sort of verbal thuggery in or on the fringes of local politics.

Mr Greaves is now political adviser to Pendle's ruling group.

In the light of his disgraceful outbursts, one shudders to think what sort of advice he hands out to members of his group.

He, of all people, should be setting a good example to younger local politicians.

His amazing behaviour may well influence the way the people of Pendle vote in the next local elections.

Tony Greaves should realise that if he cannot win a point by rational argument, he should stay well away from local politics.

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