SIR – Re Councillor Lynn Denham’s letter ‘I’ll tell you want motivates me, Mr Nielsen’ (Worcester News, April 23).

She misses my point when replying to my letter ‘Are allowances the motivating factor? (Worcester News, April 18).

I don’t doubt her commitment to the NHS nor the effort she puts in to campaigning against the cuts.

I would be grateful if she could now answer my original question: When Worcester Labour Party sought five candidates for the county council seats that they hoped to win or win back, could they not find five people who were not already councillors?

I raised this matter before two years ago ‘Where is the new generation of local Labour people hiding? (Worcester News, April 22, 2011).

This was in response to the claim by Labour’s chairman Chris Winwood (Worcester News, November 8, 2010), when three councillors decided to stand down, that “we have a whole new generation of Labour activists keen to take their place”.

Others have left including John Buckley, who led Labour on the county council; Pam Clayton and Marc Bayliss, who both joined the Tories, and former city council Labour leader David Barlow.

With so many (Labour and Tory) councillors sitting on two councils, are they not really creating a unitary authority by default with councillors on double pay?

PETER NIELSEN

Worcester