I HAVE been an ordinary Labour member of John O'Gaunt ward for many years. I, like many others had much admiration for Paddy Kavanah and the work he did for the Labour party. Paddy was a Labour man and would never have considered representing any other party. He was proud of being a member of the Labour party and would have understood that selecting a proposed councillor is a democratic process. I attended the selection meeting. It was a well-run meeting whereby all candidates were given equal time to speak and answer questions. At no time, either before or during the process was there any discussion or 'engineering' among the members. I find the accusations made in your paper last week by the so-called Labour member, astounding. I wonder if this member attended the meeting. I think not.

J Ashton Colchester Ave