IN REPLY to Dr Findlater's total drivel of last week, I should like to point out that this Labour administration has achieved more in their short term of office than the Tories achieved in 18 years. They have made mistakes as all governments do, but they did, however, have the guts to admit those mistakes, a concept alien to the Tories.

His childlike assertion that they are trying to suppress opposition to issues such as fuel tax is quite simply ludicrous. Is he irresponsible enough to be suggesting that the government should give in to pressure groups? I would imagine that he would have been very much in favour of the reduction in trade union powers and rightly so. No group of people should be able to buck the democratic process and hold the country to ransom. Had the government yielded then we would find ourselves on the same rocky road as the French.

With the right-wing mentality of Dr Findlater, the government can never win. I strongly suspect that if they had bowed to pressure he would have criticised them for that. I also suspect that had this happened under a Tory administration he would be one of the first to cry foul and condemn the protesters. The question one has to ask there of course is, even with the Tories' appalling record on fuel tax (after all, they introduced the fuel escalator), would this protest have ever taken place? I suggest not!

Mr Vauge's (sorry Hague) response is to promise 3 pence off a litre. This would do little to placate anyone but would have serious implications for public spending. Moving on to the subject of pensions does he recall that the only thing the Tories did for pensioners was to cheat them by axing the link between pensions and pay.

Dr Findlater is the only person duping anyone. He is duping himself into believing his own propaganda!

Steve Ormerod

South Grove

Morecambe