ONCE again the pathetic excuse of protecting human rights is used to conceal the truth.

That two councillors who failed to pay their council tax have hidden behind this veil of secrecy is a disgrace.

What about the human rights of the majority of councillors who, like the vast majority of residents, having paid their council tax, now find our integrity is impugned by the abject failure of two?

Had the two been open and honest from the outset, there may have been legitimate and then acceptable reasons for their delay in paying and the whole matter would now have been closed.

As it is, despite the best efforts of The Bolton News, the whole shoddy saga drags on.

Perhaps naming the innocent would flush out the offenders. I for one would have no problem with that.

It is, in my view, a totally unacceptable situation and a sign of weakness that the two are prepared to allow the good name of others to be tarnished.

More than that, it is yet another illustration as to why the current, perverse human rights legislation needs to be torn up.

Cllr John Walsh Heaton