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"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
(Through the Looking-Glass, Ch 5)

As has been said elsewhere, Mr Bastable's literary style, developed during and probably the result of years of presenting a TV programme for young children, owes much to the transforming powers of amnesia and false perspective.

His review of the year reveals all his familiar idiosyncrasies. His cheerful disregard for chronology which allows him to confuse cause and effect conveniently; his dogged determination to ignore facts and to substitute his own pet fictions; his tired repetition of false allegations long since thoroughly disproved by the Pearson Report - if there are malicious and vindictive e-mails, show us them. Put them on your website. Just give us some proof, for once! - his unshakeable faith in the near-mystical powers of the former electrician, Stuart-King; and his belief that an oft-repeated meaningless slogan will clinch his case.
(A free lunch, with wine, at the Cricketer's Club of London to anyone who can find an atom of sense in 'independent officials deserve official independence').

In fairness to Mr Bastable, at least his first paragraph is almost beyond criticism. ACU&S was brought to a crisis by the activities of a group of Members, although it was not that small. Sadly for the rest of us, they were mostly on the General Council and between them all they committed the Association - either actively or by bovine unquestioning compliance - to expenditure totally beyond our means; without firm promises or, indeed, promises of any kind from any organisation to offer sponsorship.

Apart from that opening paragraph, the rest is a mish-mash of half-baked ignorance and misrepresentation. Mind you, Mr Bastable is quite proud of that ignorance. In his e-mailed open letter response to Mr Lowden's e-mail suspending him as an officer for contravening clause J(1) of the Constitution, Mr Bastable said, in a phrase that may well have been fresh when he first heard it used, that he would not recognise the clause "if it stood up and started whistling Dixie." You may think it odd that ACU&S' appointed Media Officer should know so little about the Constitution adopted only a few years back in June 2002. There was plenty of discussion about it in General Council at the time and it even got the odd mention in How's That?

Once again we say to Mr Bastable and his friends, if you wish to make accusations, that is fine by us. Just show us some proof.

Name "the promising looking companies" which received "mysterious telephone calls or other messages suggesting that it would be better were they not to commit funds to the ACU&S." Is there some proof of this? Show us it, then. Explain just how we are supposed to have known ACU&S was in negotiation with them. Show us some proof.

There must be some correspondence from "sponsors" complaining about "the e-mails now being forwarded to them on a regular basis" which caused them to pull out. Instead of vague allusion, show us it. Put it on your website. Show us the proof.

You say there was an e-mail campaign against Mr Stuart-King "of unprecedented vindictiveness and personal animosity." You say that "anyone who had sight of these messages could not fail to be struck by their level of malice and innuendo." Put it to the test. No need to keep them to yourselves. Show us these e-mails. Show us the proof.

As you say at the end of your piece, ACU&S Members will draw their own conclusions from the foregoing. We trust that they will also draw their own conclusions from your inability to match your allegations with evidence. They may start to wonder just what kind of mad cow barminess Stuart-King managed to infect you all with.