ALTHOUGH debates about terminology can be tedious, Mr Mountford raises an important point (You Say, June 29).

There are, of course various models of democracy. There is no one democratic system.

Most countries are not governed by "pure" democracy in the sense that the people rule directly.

Rather, they are usually governed by representatives of their choosing.

What I advocate is the pre-Blair British system in which the legislative power of democratic representatives is checked by an unelected body (the House of Lords) and an unelected Sovereign.

MATTHEW A CLARKE,

Worcester.