MAY I respond to the comments of Cllr Kindersley in your article, No apology over facist e-mails , Hunts Post, March 25. After I received the report from the Standards Committee, I was under the impression that I was to use discretion in who I told ab

MAY I respond to the comments of Cllr Kindersley in your article, "No apology over 'facist' e-mails", Hunts Post, March 25.

After I received the report from the Standards Committee, I was under the impression that I was to use discretion in who I told about it, specifically the content of the e-mails.

Cllr Kindersley clearly paid little heed to any such discretion. He goes on to label me as a facist, despite the fact the police chose not to investigate, and I was cleared by the Standards Committee. This I believe to be defamation of character and, unless I receive an apology from Cllr Kindersley, I will consider suing him.

Cllr Kindersley has obviously done his research, though, and informs us in the article that travellers make up 1.7 per cent of the South Cambs community. Considering they already have an appointed council officer and their children certainly used to have taxis to and from school, paid for by the taxpayer, I think this is adequate assistance for a minority group.

Otherwise, where does one draw the line? I know of a lot of people who would like their children to have an on-call taxi service and a specific council officer to hand, but the world does not owe us a living.

Cllr Kindersley's comments in one paragraph, "When you are an elected member of an authority coming forward with these ideas, that's different, because they could be making decisions about an equivalent situation", leave me in no doubt, that, as a democratically-elected councillor, I am allowed any opinion I want, as long as I agree with him.

This is certainly a very interesting definition of freedom of speech, and I think Cllr Kindersley should explain it to the people he represents, or at least the ones who pay his allowances.

I am not racist, facist, sexist, or traveller-ist. I am merely trying to ensure that the majority opinion is carried forward at the majority of times. That, to me, is what democracy is all about. Of course we must look after minority groups for fear of returning to the 1950s, when coloured people and Irish people were brutally discriminated against completely unacceptably, and that is not an option.

I believe however, that the travellers are not currently 'hard done by' at all and Cllr Kindersley should concentrate on projects benefitting society as a whole and not spend his time slandering the reputation of others.

Councillor PAUL DAKERS

Burstellars

St Ives