BEFORE rushing into print, in an attempt to cover up the details in my letter, it would have been better if the Labour councillor from Darwen had actually tried to find out what Labour's true position was. Taken from data which is in the public domain, the results are quite clear, in that since the last May elections, only the Conservatives are showing a net gain, this now being 24.

While it may be unpalatable for him, the number of seats that the Labour Party have held on to does not make the slightest difference to the end result, which must be galling for him. He should produce facts to disprove the net gains we have made, or apologise.

On reflection, when you realise just how hard it is to get any sort of facts from the Labour Party, especially about the costings of the huge number of pledges they have made and their intense dislike of being put under the microscope, perhaps this is just another example of Labour trying to hide the facts from the public.

GRANVILLE BROADHURST, Sharples Street, Accrington.

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