IT is not a habit of mine to speak ill of the dead, but the high praise and eulogies heaped on the recently deceased MP for Middlesbrough, Sir Stuart Bell, are simply untrue (Echo, Oct 15).

He was a very poor Labour MP and probably the worst in this region.

Sir Stuart had not held a political surgery to meet his constituents since 1997.

Having become MP for the safe constituency of Middlesbrough in 1983 he may well have lost his seat had it been a marginal constituency, as I can honestly say that I have never spoken to a single person from Middlesbrough who had a good word for him.

His involvement in the general Labour and trade union movement appeared to be nil.

In 30 years as a trade union representative, I never saw him participate in any trade union solidarity action whatsoever.

Middlesbrough is one of the poorest and most deprived constituencies in the country and the people who live there deserve to be represented by an MP who will fight for their interests – someone much better than Sir Stuart Bell.

John Gilmore, Bishop Auckland.