DOES our form of democracy work? More and more people are not voting. We see this in the lowering of total votes cast every election.

Why am I so disillusioned? Well it's the package system that most political party candidates represent. When we vote we have to accept bag and baggage everything their parties represent.

I may like the Liberal Democrats' ideas for scrapping the council tax and making an income tax take its place, payable by every adult earner.

But I have to then accept their ideas on giving every convicted criminal a vote during their time in prison! I also have to go along with their ideas on making drugs more permissible.

With Labour it's a straightforward decision, whether Tony Blair is truthful. I believe he deceived Parliament and the people regarding weapons of mass destruction.

The fact that very few Labour MPs have had the guts to either vote against Blair and to sack him as Prime Minister confirms my opinion that Labour under Blair is not for me.

Then the Tories (or Conservatives as they like to be called). They are all over the place in their policies and their economic figures don't seem to add up.

In this 400th centenary celebration of the Gunpowder Plot I am wondering whether we voters should be giving the three major political parties an explosive riposte? As a fellow Yorkshireman I have sympathy for Guy Fawkes.

D J DRANE,

Bredon,

Worcestershire.