DOES anyone really believe that President George Bush will bother one jot about the posturing of anti-war activists here in Blackburn?

It is, therefore, laughable for people like Parvaiz Awan (ex-Tory councillor), Graham Carter (Stop the War Coalition), Musa Haldani (Lancashire Council of Mosques) and their ilk to suggest that Glasgow MP George Galloway should consider standing as an independent candidate against Jack Straw at the next election (LET, May 7).

These people should get real! Jack Straw has worked very hard for the people he represents. Every extra vote for an independent, Lib-Dem, Green, BNP, etc., would mean only one sure thing here in Blackburn (and other towns) -- the election of a Conservative MP.

Once again, those supposedly on the side of ordinary working people would, in reality, take us back to the dark days of Thatcherism -- four million unemployed, rip-off privatisations, low wages, child poverty, cuts in public services, etc., and this isn't even mentioning the close ties between Bush's Republican Party and the Conservative Party!

I'm sure these people will be very pleased with themselves when they wake up to see Mr Duncan-Smith's smiling face in No 10 Downing Street!

D FATIMAH (Ms), Ripon Street, Blackburn.