HOW could they? Pendle's Liberals today showed their true colours with plans to scrap the "Mayor's Fiver", an annual Christmas bonus given to the area's over 80s.

The idea may be old-fashioned, but it is a tradition which has survived the years. Typical of one of the few remaining little quirks which put the "Great" into Great Britain.

Admittedly, £5 has diminished in value. But it showed the elderly that someone, somewhere, was thinking about them.

And for those on low incomes, £5 can even now make a difference - a small boost in the form of a couple of Christmas drinks, or better food on the festive table.

Not a lot to ask for people who've paid their council tax and often spent their entire working lives in the borough.

But now the Scrooge administration wants to take away that little Christmas cheer.

It claims it cannot afford a modest pay-out which would go to only 3,600 qualifying people.

Come on, we're talking around £18,000 here. And if Pendle MP Gordon Prentice has his figures right, it's only just short of the £20,000 the burghers of this fine borough recently spent on an expensive revamp of a committee room at Nelson Town Hall. Mr Prentice is right to intervene, and so, too, is Labour Mayor Coun Frank Clifford who says he would be incredibly disappointed if the council does away with this "small token of esteem for the elderly".

Meanwhile, the meanies in power say inflation has cut the value of this small gift, and scrapping the payment is one of several difficult decisions made to balance the books.

If things have got to such a stage, this council must be scraping the very bottom of the barrel.

The proposal shows a complete lack of respect for tradition, the elderly and the residents of this borough.

Ask anyone in the streets whether they would rather their council tax went on a little cheer for the old folk or plush new carpets and well padded new chairs for councillors to enjoy in private.

It doesn't take a genius to guess the reply.

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