It is of concern that some 20 supposedly intelligent people, seeking election to Colchester Borough Council this Thursday, could be duped into signing a letter (Gazette Letters, April 27) which accused me falsely of something I had not said.

Their criticism is based on a twisted version by a Conservative candidate of what I said in a letter to residents in Shrub End Ward.

I did not say people who worked could not do the duties of a councillor – that would be silly, not least because when I was a councillor, I had a job.

What I said, in the context of the Shrub End campaign which realistically is a straight contest between the defending Liberal Democrat and the Conservative challenger, is that Lib-Dem Nigel Offen lived locally and was retired and was, in my opinion, better able to undertake the demanding duties of a councillor than his Conservative opponent who lived elsewhere and worked in London. I feel that is a fair comment by me.

Regrettably, a Conservative candidate twisted this into saying I was making an attack against working people from standing for the council.

Even more regrettably, he then circulated his twisted version to a large number of people, including the chairman of Colchester Labour Party.

This resulted in a flurry of electronic twitter chatter leading to the letter attacking me being published by the Gazette.

But how many of the 23 Conservative, Labour, Green and Ukip candidates whose names were appended to that critical letter had actually read what I had said, rather than being duped by the twisted version?

Bill Rowley, Ukip candidate in High Woods, has had the good grace to phone me to apologise saying he had no knowledge of my letter and was not contacted to have his name included in the letter criticising me. Is he the only one?

I think the author of the letter has some explaining to do. And so have the others who signed it.

Readers may well question if such gullible people are suitable to be councillors.

Sir Bob Russell
Lib Dem MP for Colchester
Wimpole Road
Colchester