From Richard Brown:

I WAS saddened to read Geoffrey Cox’s article in this week’s Post, where in he whined about MPs getting a little rough handling from irate members of the public.

He also stated that British Parliamentary Democracy was admired around the world. Just to jog his memory (gently): In the last couple of decades governments of various political shaded, have led us in to various armed conflicts, on what turned out to be largely spurious grounds, these conflicts have led to the destabilising of large tracts of the globe, tremendous loss of life, including many of our own inadequately supplied and equipped military personnel, and this has enhanced the threat of terrorism both home and abroad.

We have also enjoyed a ‘double dip’ recession, caused by greedy bankers, aided by inept politicians, with the result that the old phrase ‘the rich have got the pleasure’ and ‘the poor have got the blame’, i.e the bankers have been bailed out with public money, and the rest of us endure the continued cuts of public services.

MPs responses seem to have consisted of continual fraudulent ‘expense claims’, and unseemly and childish brawls in parliament, a few have even ended up in prison — not enough, in my opinion — and, surely, even Geoffrey does not need reminding of the continuing fiasco over Brexit!

They used to be indecisive but now they’re not so sure! Respect has to be earned, I fear, and our MPs have lost it big time.

In many countries, violent protest would have engulfed the streets before now, and I think an MP, many of whose constituents are on low incomes, thirty or forty miles away from an A&E department, and the same distance from a cottage hospital with beds for convalescents (and no adequate public transportation), has more important issues to address than people showing him and his cronies a bit of robust dissent.

In the words of president Truman, ‘If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.’

Yours deeply disappointed.

Holsworthy