I FEEL bound to respond to the comments by N Taylor (You Say, August 20) that the present Labour Government gained power through a corrupt electorate system.

Can the correspondent say that those derogatory remarks would still apply if a Government was elected to his liking by the same first past-the-post system?

I agree with N Taylor that there is a large proportion of the electorate that doesn't bother to vote.

But the reason is not because of Labour Government policies as he is trying to suggest. The underlying cause for the low turnout at the polls dates back to those 18 years of Tory rule and Mrs Thatcher, in particular.

It was she who destroyed the manufacturing industry of this country during the 1980s resulting in millions of young workers being thrown on to the dole, and there left to suffer under her right- wing ideology.

Sadly, the misery of the Thatcher era that created much disillusionment and despair is today still deeply seared into the memory of a large section of the electorate.

Unfortunately, that mindset has rubbed off on to their offspring and, as a consequence, there is a great number of households that mistakenly believe all Governments are alike.

The very fact that this is consistent with the words by N Taylor, quote "they are all the same", suggests to me he is a member of one of those non-voting households.

REG PRICE, Worcester.