'ORDINARY Voter' says Albert Hornby is entitled to have his say, and the BEN was quite in order to publish his views, whether or not MP Ruth Kelly denies the allegations.

Quite right!

OV then goes on to say -- "The derogatory attack upon Mr Hornby by Cllr Morris was unjustified. Furthermore, the letters page of a newspaper is not the place to be attacking members of the public. An elected councillor should be above such behaviour."

As my old English master used to say -- "What utter piffle and balderdash."

Councillors and MPs have as much right as anyone else to write letters to the BEN. In fact, I believe they have a duty to respond to criticism. If they do not, then we can only assume that the criticism is justified.

Councillor Morris was perfectly in order in blasting the nonsense sent in by Albert Hornby.

Incidentally, why would Ruth Kelly want to seek a safer seat? Her seat in Bolton West is as safe as my armchair, as indeed are those of Brian Iddon and David Crausby, when you consider the shambolic opposition.

The Tory Party as a whole are without hope. Bolton West candidate, James Stevens, makes the headlines by wanting to close even more Bolton toilets. Bolton South candidate, whose name eludes me at the moment, when criticising Bolton Council about the mess that is Farnworth Park, was actually talking about the wrong park. He didn't even know where Farnworth Park was. As for Michael Winstanley, Tory candidate for Bolton North East, he jumped on Widdecombe's bandwagon to crack down on cannabis, so quickly, he is now on a ride to obscurity.

Brian Derbyshire

Ribchester Grove, Bolton