MARK Twain noted that ''a lie can travel halfway round the world before truth can get its shoes on''. Your report and editorial comment (The French connection, May 25) confirm the astuteness of his observations.

Misinformation be it explicit or inferred is fundamentally dishonest. For your newspaper to suggest that North Lanarkshire Council contrived and invited collusion with our twinning counterparts in St Denis to secure tickets for a football match debases all concerned but specifically insults the community of St Denis.

Criticism, albeit ill-informed, is a constant companion of local authorities (North Lanarkshire appears to be a favoured target). Perhaps we now have an opportunity to examine together and objectively the merits, purpose, and value of twinning without the obvious political hijacking attempts of the SNP. I will be happy to engage and support your endeavours in this regard.

Harry McGuigan,

Leader,

North Lanarkshire Council,

Civic Centre, Motherwell.

May 29.