AN interesting letter from Neil Derbyshire of the 'North West Lib Dems', in which he gloats over the poor showing of the U.K. Independence Party at the Preston by-election. In that letter Mr Derbyshire demonstrates why the Lib Dems will never amount to anything in the politics of our country. About two months ago I had a letter published in 'The Citizen', in which I alleged that there was massive under reporting of mad cow disease in France. I asked our Lib. Dem. MEP., Chris Davies, what he was doing about it. Neither Chris nor his lackey, Neil Derbyshire, bothered to reply. Since that time even the politicians have had to admit that the scale of the disease in France is much greater than has previously been admitted, thus proving that I was right.

The result of all the furore about the danger of French beef, a danger that has caused even some schools in France to ban it from their menus, has been total silence from the Lib Dems. The Labour Government, following their usual policy of grovelling cowardice in foreign affairs, have assured us that, despite the evidence, French beef is safe.

The innate intellectual dishonesty of the 'Dib Lems' is demonstrated by their claim that 87 per cent of voters support our involvement in Europe because they voted for pro-European parties. May I point out that 100 per cent of voters voted for parties that reject capital punishment for child murderers! Does Mr Derbyshire therefore suggest that nobody in Preston believes that child killers should hang? The Labour Party is bad enough when it comes to deviousness but the 'Dib Lems' leave them standing. Having just received a real hiding at the polls in Preston, where they were hoping to replace the Tories as the second party, they direct attention to a little fringe party and trumpet their success over them. Their behaviour in the East End of London, where their racist rhetoric outdoes even the fascists, is disgraceful yet in prosperous middle England, where it is fashionable, they are militantly anti-fascist.

The Lib Dems have to accept that under their new, small and plump leader, or for that matter any other leader, they are doomed to remain a little, ineffective protest movement striving, as Mr Derbyshire demonstrates, to put the boot into any little minnow they can find while remaining as gutless and oily as ever in the presence of the big boys.

The fact is that the Tory party in Preston enjoyed a 9.1 per cent swing to them from Labour and that is enough, if extrapolated nationally, to ensure a hung parliament. The reason for the swing is not that the British public have suddenly discovered the delights of lining the pockets of the European gravy-train passengers. It is that the Tories have marginalised the master of disaster, Hezza, along with Clarke, Major and the rest of the Europhiles who cost them the last election. Under William Hague they are back to being a Tory party with some spine which will stand up for Britain. That's why UKIP did badly. They are not needed any more. We have a real Tory party back which, as under the 'Iron Lady', is prepared to stand up for Britain and put our own people first, just for a change..

W Hill Skerton