SIR – The letter from Baildon Labour Party member Joe Ashton (T&A, February 5) about Shipley MP Philip Davies and his supposed lack of support for a Shipley Eastern Bypass was certainly worthy of a response.

From my understanding of Mr Davies’s stance, he has always come across, both in word and in print, as being totally committed to such a bypass. How this can be refuted by Mr Ashton is therefore rather strange.

Perhaps he should instead be consulting with his Labour colleagues on Bradford Council, who seem to be the ones blocking any progress in this matter?

It is surely Mr Ashton who needs to get his priorities in order by understanding where our MP is really coming from before going into print.

Further, why should we need to consider an alternative MP in 2015, as Mr Ashton suggests? In my view, we are currently being very well served by someone who is happy to ignore the party line if he considers that to be the best way forward. He has been a breath of fresh air after Labour’s Christopher Leslie, who was never one to rock the boat in his pursuit of higher office.

Bob Watson, Springfield Road, Baildon