POINT out as he may that he puts in up to 60 hours a week on council work and that the recommendation for increased allowances for councillors that will see his shoot up from £2,400 to £8,000 comes from an independent panel, Burnley's council leader Stuart Caddy cannot deny one thing - that the council tax payers putting up the money are getting pay rises nowhere near that level.

Therefore, no matter how many hours a week he serves them; no matter that the allowances for councillors in Burnley are considerably lower than those in other authorities and no matter that until last year they hadn't risen for nine years, shouldn't what he and his colleagues charge for their services be tied to householders' ability to pay?

It is a principle that many of them were happy to advocate when the poll tax had the voters upset, is it not?