Sir, – For those of us who lived through the Benn years, and as a Labour supporter at the time, the partisan take of Dr Daragh Downes should not go unanswered (LettersMay 22nd). Tony Benn, Jeremy Corbyn and all the "entryists" used Labour for their own purposes. They thought they could hijack it as cover to gain power. Benn, who had been in charge of the nuclear industry – an industry he later repudiated – came very close to high office, but was forestalled by Denis Healey.
And now it’s Mr Corbyn’s turn to ram through a far-left manifesto, to the dismay of most Labour MPs. He may very well succeed in breaking up Labour. Perhaps then, he and his ilk can go before the electorate with an even more far-left agenda, which should have happened a long time ago, and see how far it gets him.
Some may not be worried about the disintegration of the UK, but a majority in these parts, and I include parts of Ireland, think otherwise. – Yours, etc,
PADDY McEVOY,
March,
Cambridgeshire.