I am sure that the majority of Bury residents, myself included, find the sale of Lowry's painting utterly deplorable.

I also find it economically nonsensical, since even if it raises as much as £500,000 at auction, it will still go nowhere near filling the void which is Bury's budget shortfall.

We should, however, accept no lectures from Bob Bibby on the subject of selling the family silver'.

Was it not Councillor Bibby's Conservative party that gleefully presided over the biggest sell-off of public assets and services in history, such as water, gas, electricity, telecommunications and the railways?

Was it not the Conservatives who introduced the internal market and privatised important chunks of the NHS, the disastrous repercussions of which we are still suffering to this day?

Had the Tories remained in control of Bury, you may rest assured that they would have sold off a whole range of local assets and services which would make the sale of a painting shrink into insignificance.

While some problems undoubtedly remain, Bury under Labour has generally become a cleaner, brighter, more attractive, more prosperous, fairer and safer place.

What this borough needs - and has always needed - most desperately, is a larger, fairer level of financial support from central government.

It is surely time that our councillors of all parties united around a vigourous campaign to ensure a fairer deal for Bury for the future.

CHRIS BAINBRIDGE Bury