IT SEEMS that Labour has an opt out clause from the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, as they continue to catch as many red herrings as they want and then serve them up to the populace with a nice garnish. I refer to Emily Lomax's letter (12/10).

She refers to my letter about Councillor David 'Angelotti' Whitaker and calls it Machiavellian. I didn't think that actually believing what a Labour councillor writes, and then responding was Machiavellian. Obviously I was wrong. I did not have to claim to have been present at the Labour selection process for John o' Gaunt, nor did I state whether I felt it was fair or otherwise. I merely looked at the facts as presented by Councillor Whitaker and reached a reasonable conclusion. For Miss Lomax's benefit the scenario was:

A Labour councillor, using a pseudonym, was highly critical of his party's selection process in this letters page.

At a later date that councillor retracted the letter, claiming that he did not know the details when he wrote his original letter and that the process was fair after all. You do not have to be a genius of Sherlock Holmes proportions to deduce from this that either a Labour councillor wrote a letter, for whatever motive, criticising his party, when he didn't know the facts, a very irresponsible thing to do.

Or, that when Councillor Whitaker was rumbled he was made to retract his original letter by his leadership.

I came to the conclusion based on Councillor Whitaker's two letters and the fact that Labour locally does not appear to be cracking down on dissidents, hence no doubt, Councillor Whitaker's original use of a pseudonym. If he hadn't been rumbled, it is reasonable to wonder why he 'blew his cover' with his second letter and didn't simply retract as 'Angelotti'.

For Miss Lomax to then pretend that Stanley Henig has disappeared from the scene, bearing in mind the role he played in the recent by-election and continues to play behind the scenes within the local Labour Party, beggars belief.

As does her statement that Councillor Beaman and his colleagues prefer the 'hereditary principle'. That coming from the party that governs this country, and squanders millions of pounds every day, with unaccountable, unelected cronies such as Lord 'Charlie' Faulconer etc. That strikes me as an extreme case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Her final statement, that to raise valid questions in response to public statements made by Labour members, no matter how ill considered those statements might be, is 'juvenile trash' merely underlines the arrogance of 'New' Labour and the contempt in which they hold the electorate and the democratic process.

Finally Miss Lomax can only be referring to Labour Councillor Whitaker when she accuses people of 'writing scurrilous innuendo' in you 'free forum for debate'.

Cllr Gregg Beaman

Carnforth independent