IT seems that those of the working classes who aspire to rise above their lowly stations now have a saviour in New Labour style guru, Cllr. Guy Harkin.

Following his example (Bolton Evening News December 27) we will exchange our cloth caps for top-hats and tiaras, and our whippets for the more regal Corgis and Bull Terriers.

No longer will we wallow in the dark satanic chill of ignorance, haunted by the ghost of socialism. We will march forward under Dr Iddon's banner, brimming with health, and smiling with fluoridated confidence.

And as a mark of our resolve to be model citizens in David Blunkett's Brave New World, we will attend college to learn the Queen's English, so that in citizenship classes we may rehearse our oaths of allegiance with not a hint of '...ee bah gum'.

Not bloomin' likely, Cllr. Harkin. I am not ashamed of the cloth cap image. The cloth cap is worn by people the world over, and by young and old alike; its image is part of my cultural identity.

A couple of years ago, whilst in France on a three month's walk to Santiago de Compostella in Spain, I became rather homesick, so to cheer myself up whilst on the hill tops I would sing at full blast and in the broadest possible accent, (humble apologies to Yorkshire folk) the words of 'Ilkley Moor baht 'at' . (I note with interest Mr. P. Johnston, Letters December 29).

A Frenchman walking the same route heard me, and he asked me to write the word in his note book. I did so, accompanying it with a rough translation into French - hardly a coup in diplomatic relations, but the world is as a result one would hope, a friendlier place. Further on in a Spanish hostel, whilst I was in conversation with a Spaniard who wanted to practise his English, I was overheard by a Welshman who immediately identified me as being '...from Fred Dibnah country', which fact I acknowledged with pride, since I admire his engineering skills and craftsmanship.

Cultural exchanges of such inferior quality would no doubt be banned under the equivalent of the Patriot Act as being detrimental to the economic interests of Bolton if Cllr. Harkin were to have his way. He should not forget that it is the 'cloth cap' image which is for example, at the core of the phenomenal international success of Northern brass band music, that of Smithills School Senior Brass Band, to be precise, so he should beware of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

William Kelly

Darley Street

Farnworth