I AM somewhat amazed by the letter from Phil Stoddart (HAS, Oct 8) expressing his “disgust” at the support of our Labour MP, Roberta Blackman-Woods, who supports a town council for Durham City.

Three points come immediately to mind. Firstly, my MP was elected to represent all the residents of her constituency not just the members of the Labour Party, and, from the vast majority of people in the city area that I speak to, there is a strong desire for the city to have its own elected body to oversee affairs: in other words a town council.

Secondly, the county council that Mr Stoddart praises so much has stolen the Mayoralty from the elected members of the city area by combining it with the county council Chairmanship and the city wants it back.

Thirdly, Mr Stoddart has some brass neck in decrying a town council when he lives in Ushaw Moor which has its own parish council (of which he is a member). Why should not Durham City have the same right to a local council as he has in his area?

There may well be an issue concerning the quality of the bus station in the city, but to link this with the Town council debate smacks of the sort of old-fashioned Labour politics that I had hoped was a thing of the past.

But having been a councillor for 30 years in Labour-run county hall, I guess I should not have been surprised.

Cllr Nigel Martin, Liberal Democrat, Neville’s Cross Division, Durham

I WAS once a member of the Labour Party and know Phil Stoddart very well but is he correct in arguing for a town council instead of city council?

Tony Kelly is absolutely correct in slamming county council leader Simon Henig and his cronies for trying to get the Durham county plan back on track - what a load of rubbish it will turn out to be if all of it is implemented. I do not object to some of the plan but when they start to talk about certain things, such as more jobs and houses, where does the finance come from? Get real.

Malcolm Gibb, Durham