THE political power and social clout Jeff Lewis complains about (Letters, Nov 2) is in full swing, led by those leading and representing the very party formed to eliminate bias.

With additions to already generous salaries, ever-increasing allowances, misuse of expenses, additional homes, cars and VIP privileges, with some Labour stalwarts entering the House of Lords, the Government is hypocritically joining those it once denounced. Where is this democracy Jeff Lewis claims to live in?

We have a Prime Minister who frequently makes nationally important decisions with no submission even to the Cabinet, or to democratic debate in Parliament; a Prime Minister who sends under-equipped soldiers into battle without prior reference to the people he was elected to represent; who allows a press secretary to persuade a civil servant to change the wording on a security document to suit political convenience; and who, without mandate from the people, signs away British sovereignty into the hands of an incompetent body of European bureaucrats. Hardly democratic behaviour.

Though not a BNP supporter myself, I do feel that the constant surrender of British rights, and the blatant discrimination against this country's natives and its historic culture, is the reason for the flow in the BNP's direction.

S. FORSYTH