DURHAM City Liberal Democrat Councillor Mark Wilkes (HAS, Aug 25) wrote about the dilemma that he faced as a Liberal Democrat councillor over the granting of a licence for a lap dancing club.

One of the reasons I vote Liberal Democrat is because I expect them to keep a more open mind about such issues than the Labour or Conservative parties. Too many people in the both the Labour and Conservative parties think they have the right to dictate what people see and do. The Liberal Democrat party is worth nothing unless it stands up to those authoritarian forces who think that they have the right to censor and dictate to others.

I personally would not think it worth paying the money to go to a lap dancing club. Going to a lap dancing club is not as virtuous as going to a further education or cultural event, but it is more preferable than binge drinking, smoking and experimenting with dangerous drugs.

At the end of the day it is not sex that is obscene but the self abuse that is too much of a way of life in the North-East.

Peter J Brown, Middlesbrough.