SIR – Re Mr [Tim] Palmer’s letter saying that a councillor cannot express considered opinions about a major international matter (Worcester News, December 6).

If he were one of my constituents, he would know that I am a full-time councillor.

I have no other job and work very hard for the people of Warndon and Gorse Hill.

I reply to every phone call and letter and do my best to solve any problems or complaints.

That doesn’t prevent me also having a strong interest in injustice and world affairs.

I can assure Mr Palmer that I can do both at the same time.

I’m not sure what he is suggesting that I should have been otherwise doing while writing my letter to the Worcester News.

And, obviously, I have never said that I believe Israel’s threat to world peace is an issue that matters most to the people of Worcester.

But I do agree with Mr Palmer when he says he is “narrow-minded” because he “doesn’t really care”.

It is precisely because some of us do care that we get involved in politics and try to improve and change things. Thank goodness, some of us do care about war in the Middle East and the resulting no petrol at the pumps in Worcester, or is our city somehow immune from world events?

And how sad it is that somebody can label serious debate as “some sort of pseudo intellectual posturing”.

I doubt Mr Palmer even knows what that means.

And, Mr Palmer, do get your facts right. As a former chairman of the anti-smoking ASH Group, I am never in smoke-filled rooms.

And the other councillor who wrote about the Middle East is a member of the Green Party so we never have joint meetings.

ALAN AMOS County councillor for Gorse Hill and Warndon City councillor for Warndon