COUNCILLOR Mike Madigan's service to the people of Blackburn is impressive. He is a former mayor and has served on many committees during more than 20 years on the council.

But now he is being told by his party's local government committee that he is in need of extra training in negotiation skills, diplomacy, problem solving and personnel management.

He is also told that his paid work with the Ethnic Minorities Development Association represents a serious conflict of interest with his council work.

Not surprisingly Coun Madigan has blown a gasket and written a letter to his Labour town hall colleagues blasting the decision.

It is nonsense to say that a man with as much service under his belt as Coun Madigan is suddenly in need of training. And if there is a conflict of interest as far as his job with EMDA is concerned, this is something which has to be met head on.

Coun Madigan has done the right thing by taking advice from Blackburn with Darwen chief executive Phil Watson.

If he is happy that there is no conflict - and, when Coun Madigan took the job, EMDA did not receive funding from the council - the Labour members must accept this.

Coun Madigan is also accused by the committee of being confrontational in his approach to issues in his Shadsworth ward.

What world are his colleagues living in? The very nature of politics is confrontational, as is demonstrated every day at every level.

This newspaper has crossed swords in the past with Coun Madigan on political issues. But that is only to be expected in a democracy.

We certainly do not believe that, because we have occasionally taken the opposite stance, the councillor needs some form of training!

Could it be that under Labour's "new management" people like Coun Madigan are an embarrassment because they speak their minds and will not blindly toe the political line?

Could it also be that the people who control the local party are too timid to come out straight with their views but hide behind pathetically transparent stratagems such as "retraining"?

It may be that the control freakishness within the Labour movement has reached such a level that only "yes men" are tolerated.

They are seen as voting fodder.

Mike Madigan and his kind are like a breath of fresh air within the stifling confines of the present Labour movement.

And they should be allowed to state a differing point of view without running the risk of ex-communication.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.