I AM absolutely shocked at the supportive comments being made to Blackburn with Darwen Councillor Arif Waghat over his conviction for benefit fraud.

He has committed an offence against the state, the same state whose democratic process had allowed him and others to be elected as representatives of the people of Blackburn.

I get the impression that Coun Waghat and those who supported him for furtherance of their own selfish motives have all of a sudden forgotten that one of the seven principles allied to those serving the public is honesty.

Defrauding the state and ultimately the taxpayer can hardly be said to be honesty.

We all suffer hardship at some point or another and if we all resorted to dishonest means I am sure the prisons would not be able to cope, not to mention that those who were lucky enough to escape prison would lose their jobs.

Coun Waghat has let his constituents down and what's even more abhorrent is that he insults us by proposing to speak to some of his constituents and people in mosques before he decides about his future.

I wonder what the public would say if a Government Minister had defrauded the state and on being caught and convicted simply said that instead of resigning he would speak to his constituents and those in his local.

TASS HUSSAIN, Whalley Old Road, Blackburn.