Letter: The fall of Archer

Sir: It doesn't really matter now which Labour candidate is selected to run for mayor of London. Ken Livingstone has won.

He has made Millbank a laughing stock and the selection committee look like Orwell's thought police. He has also made it clearer than ever that any other Labour mayor would be no more than a puppet of the Government.

But this whole affair is not just about electing a mayor for London. It is about the direction in which the present leadership of the Labour Party is going.

The Loony Left has been replaced by Big Brother. This is not a Third Way but another form of extremism with dangerous effects on the future of democracy in this country.

Ken has stemmed the tide and in doing so has alerted people to the danger. It will take many more people to turn it but, better still, couldn't Tony Blair pause and try and replace arrogance with a little humility, and reflect on where his present path is leading him?

DOROTHY FORBES

Birmingham