CONGRATULATIONS to Home Secretary Jack Straw for giving voice to the North West by selecting Adam Patel to the new national race relations forum (LET, May 23).

Mr Patel has got the experience, ability, and commitment to the Asian community, whose trust and full confidence he has after working for them for the past 35 years.

We wish him well for taking a new challenge to improve race relations for this and future generations, so everyone in the community can live in peace and harmony in Lancashire.

COUN HUSSAIN AKHTAR, Shear Brow Ward, Blackburn with Darwen Council.

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