SIR – According to the T&A story (October 26), the five Respect councillors have left the party. It would be truer to say that the party has left them – and the bulk of its once-enthusiastic Bradford members.

Though I resolved I would stay out of Left party politics when I was ousted from my position as chairman of Bradford South CLP because of my support for Ken Livingstone’s independent mayoral bid in London, I joined Respect during the Bradford spring because I saw how it could supply a useful counterweight to the Con-Lib-Lab consensus which has paralysed City Hall for decades.

That hope was quickly dispelled when I saw how failure to implement democratic decisions, to consult with the 70-strong membership, and to begin planning for the 2014 local elections immediately after the 2012 victories (as was decided) turned the party into just another political cabal.

But the need which impelled so many to vote Respect in 2012 is even more urgent than ever. I urge all who were so enthusiastic about those victories to support the new People’s Assembly, which has a branch in Leeds, soon to be joined by one in Bradford.

Karl Dallas, Church Green, Bradford