RECENTLY, some Labour councillors have been seen using their mobile phones to tweet in the council chamber during meetings in order to give a running commentary on proceedings, rather than doing so after the meeting.

I questioned this practice with the director of legal services. He replied that MPs have recently voted to allow the use of Twitter during parliamentary debates after parliamentary authorities moved to ban it last January.

In this case, it would seem that two wrongs do indeed make a right. It’s perfectly acceptable in Middlesbrough for councillors to tweet during proceedings rather than concentrate on the matters in hand, yet at the start of every meeting, members of the public are told to switch off their mobile phones.

Joan McTigue, Middlesbrough.