It is clear to me that I have uneased local government union employees and the local Labour Party, by having the audacity to suggest that public money should not be spent on union convenors’ salaries, Eric Mills’s letter published in the Telegraph & Argus on February 5 being the latest angry reaction.

However, like all other Union and Labour Party supporters who have criticised my stance, Mr Mills accidentally or intentionally misses my key point, making his own point somewhat disingenuous.

It is entirely wrong to suggest that if councils stopped paying union convenors’ wages, “hundreds, if not thousands of members of the trade unions would not get any support”. Nonsense!

My argument is that the union convenors’ wages should be paid from the annual subscriptions of the “hundreds if not thousands” of union members that they represent.

The fact that this would prevent the unions from making huge donations to the Labour Party and using council taxpayers’ money to subsidise union activities in other ways, such as numerous conferences and other get-togethers, is, I suspect, the real reason for all of the howls of indignation.

I would like to reassure Mr Mills, the unions and the Labour Party, that I shall continue to prioritise the interests of local taxpayers.

Councillor Glen Miller, leader of the Conservative Group, Bradford Council, c/o City Hall, Bradford