Sir, - The Labour Party Shadow Secretary of State, Mo Mowlem, in her comments on John Major's recent Conservative Party conference address, argues that accountability and openness need to happen across the board in Northern Ireland (October 12th).
She mentions Labour's proposals for the introduction of a Freedom of Information Act and measures to make Northern Ireland quangos more open and representative of both communities. But it is not just sheer cant and hypocrisy for Ms Mowlem to prate on about our quangos (which are certainly in need of reform) while she is the spokesperson for the least open, the least representative and the least accountable public organisation in Northern Ireland, the Labour Party itself? While the Labour Party remains completely closed to Northern Ireland members and refuses to make itself accountable to the Northern Ireland electorate, the Northern Ireland public will be quite right to think that Ms Mowlem suffers from a severe credibility problem and that her comments should be treated with the contempt they deserve. - Yours, etc., Secretary, Labour in Northern Ireland, 19 Church Road, Belfast BT8 4AL.