AT last, Blackburn Labour Party are showing the strength of their convictions and that they have a will of their own and that they are not going to be dominated by the parliamentary party.

Barbara Castle recognises this in supporting their demand for increased retirement pension for the elderly.

Her call to restore the link between basic earnings and the pension is nothing short of justice for millions of elderly people, many of them struggling day by day.

The Government, who deliberately severed this link, should hang their heads in shame.

And the next government, hopefully a socialist one, should increase the pension as early as possible, ideally at the same time that a minimum wage is introduced.

K BUTLER, Haston Lee Avenue, Blackburn.

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