Letter: Co-op fit for battle

Sir: It is interesting to know that the American and South African financiers seeking to "buy" the Co-op (report, 26 April) think that Co- op members are worth only pounds 2,000 each.

Members of the Co-operative Movement are not cheap cans of beans to be bought and sold by City slickers. The Co-ops constitute a social and economic movement clustered around distinct principles which it has recently been reviving. This largely explains why the last ill-fated bid mounted by Andrew Regan, Hambros Bank and their collaborators inside the movement left them all flat on their faces. They underestimated the Co-op's determination to fight for its survival.

That threat also helped to rally Co-op members to a degree not seen for generations. As a consequence, the Co-op is now better prepared to repel carpetbaggers and many members up and down the country would relish the fight.

NIGEL TODD

Newcastle upon Tyne