However the extensive coverage you gave it might give your readers the false impression

However, the extensive coverage you gave it might give your readers the false impression that the Church of England is in crisis in this part of the world In fact, the reverse is the case. Sir: There must have been a shortage of national news yesterday (14 April). The departure of a mere 18 members of the Church of St Barnabas and St Jude in Newcastle to set up their own church is not an event of great significance in the life of the diocese of Newcastle, let alone the nation. Before that, party members only knew that they were being asked to vote on whether to retain or replace Clause IV, without having any idea of the alternative which was being proposed.It makes you wonder who the true guardians of Labour Party democracy are.Yours sincerely,WALTER CAIRNSManchester15 April. The “new” Clause IV, it should be remembered, is now barely six weeks old.

That is known as “representative democracy” – which lies at the root of that other well-known Stalinist conspiracy, the British parliament.Third, if what the party leadership had wanted was a nationwide ballot of all Labour Party members, both in the constituencies and the trade unions, they could have made life a great deal easier if they had given the members something to vote on a little earlier in the day. Could it be that, like so many others in the media, you are simply trying to portray the supporters of the current Clause IV as a bunch of antediluvian romantics?
Second, may I remind you that delegate conferences are organised precisely for the purpose of “formal consultation”? The vast majority of the Unison delegates who voted to retain the current Clause IV were properly mandated by their local branches. Why “old”? It can only become thus if, and only if, the present clause is abandoned at the forthcoming Labour Party Special Conference. Several observations must be made to put this statement into perspective. First, it is significant that you are already referring to the present formulation as the “old Clause IV”.

Sir: Your leading article “Better to lose than buy off the unions” (15 April) claims that it is “the unions and constituency parties that have used the old-style methods of democratic centralism – where executives or delegate conferences decide the issue without any formal consultation with their members – that are clinging to the old Clause IV”. Including you.Yours sincerely,PETER SMITHGeneral SecretaryAssociation of Teachers andLecturersLondon, WC214 April. The tables have serious design flaws and it intends to modify them.What a pity that an organisation of highly committed professionals cannot express public concern without being slated for whining. Morale in the teaching profession is, sadly, almost endemically low It will be a challenge for all of us to restore it. Even the Government accepts that our reservations about the league tables it originally proposed are well-founded. ATL strongly supports parental involvement in governing bodies.

We are neither opposed to the national curriculum, nor to testing, nor to parents having information about the results. There is a way to go.Finally, it simply is not the case that my association has opposed each and every reform as you imply. ATL not merely welcomed teacher appraisal but played a key role in designing it. I hope that it will become just that – but it needs to be a process which is publicly authoritative and credible, and respected by teachers also. We cannot ignore, and nor should Chief Inspector Chris Woodhead, that over a third had experienced what they felt to be rudeness and arroganceRegular school inspection can be a powerful lever to jack up standards. I referred to the nearly 65 per cent of ATL members who had found Ofsted inspectors to be professional, investigative and fair.