ON returning from a fortnight's holiday this week, I began my catching up exercise by going through the letters columns of the local press.

I began, of course, with the BEN, and read the usual crop of letters about the unique imbecility and ineptitude of Bolton Council. My mood was somewhat lightened when, wearing my GMPTA hat, I turned to the other local papers.

'End our Road Chaos Plea', this was the Leader of the Stockport Chamber of Commerce; 'Time This Town Cleared Up Its Rubbish', a letter in the Wigan Evening Post; 'New Row an Busway Plan', this was Salford, 'Danger Roads", a letter in the Manchester Evening News from a city resident.

Then there were letters in the Bury Times attacking Bury Council's cycle lanes, letters in the Oldham Chronicle attacking Oldham Council, and so on. In fact to judge from the letters columns of the local press, all 10 local authorities in Greater Manchester are, irrespective of political control, and in spite of the praise given to them by independent auditors, centres of outrageous and irredeemable incompetence.

I do not doubt that had I read more widely, the same sort of stuff has been written over the past fortnight about every local authority from the Orkneys to the Isles of Scilly.

Do I detect a General Election in the air?

Cllr Guy Harkin

Deputy Leader -- Bolton MBC

Deputy Chair -- GMPTA