WERE Dr Goebbels, Stalin and Martin Borman alive now, they might hardly believe how contemporary politicians have stolen their clothes to manipulate the levers of local and national power.

'The Party' has become everything. If it's New Conservative, Liberal or New Labour, the word is, 'toe the line ... or else.' There can be no dissension - or do I mean discussion?

Each party now has its Martin Borman clone, wheeling, dealing and manipulating, hidden from view, but with profound effect.

'Spin', if you had not recognised it, is a euphemism for propaganda; the black art, developed by Dr Goebbels to make the public interpretation of political decisions appear the best and only solution regardless.

I predict that all the 'new' parties will find the misuse of 'spin' their Archilles heel and eventually their downfall.

In our local Hyndburn politics, we appear to have both a council and executive out of control, unaccountable, dreaming up one impractical party-inspired scheme after another. It's time to bring independent thinkers and doers into our local and national politics to break the awful sameness of the political parties to represent the views of local people and stop the excesses of ideological politics.

PHILIP CONGDON, Hindle Fold Lane, Great Harwood.

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