SO, Derek Boden, leader of Bury Council, has refrained from answering my recent question as to why allowances awarded to local councillors have risen from £241,906 to approximately £500,000, an increase of more than 100 per cent in two or three years.

I believe his silence answers the question: he has no excuse for the rise and confirms the widely held view that most councillors are in local politics for greed rather than the good of the local community.

Since my letter was published, we have had a proposed council tax increase of seven per cent, and a council house rent increase of 5.8 per cent. We have a proposed increase in MPs' pay of £30 per week with a further increase of £200 per week next year. For what, you might ask.

The answer is greed in the case of wage increases, and mismanagement of council funds by councillors who have no idea of how to run a budget the size of Bury's. By contrast, nurses, who we all know do their jobs fantastically well, are offered an inflation-busting four per cent, or thereabouts. What a farce. Politics is dying a slow, inevitable death. The coming general election will confirm this, with the smallest turnout ever recorded. But will politicians change it? Not a chance. MPs and local councillors are on a cushy number.

So, where are we going? I suspect towards an increasingly frustrated public who want leaders to run the country for the good of the country and not their own ego, and for local councillors who care, have a knowledge of their local community, and are not enshrined in party politics and by political correctness, the like of which has to be seen to be believed.

If there was ever a time for a "people's party" then this is it. Show me the party that will stop illegal immigration, rid us of political correctness, tell Europe to "shove off", stop the compensation culture, brings discipline to society and really punish wrong-doers and I will show you the winners of the next general election.

In my opinion, it is everyone's duty to vote at a general election but it is valid to show your frustration with politicians who won't listen by putting an 'X' against ALL the names, thereby ruining your voting paper.

Unless the public let the politicians know how they feel, their arrogance will continue to ruin our lives.

In the meantime, I will still accept a reply from Coun Boden!

ET CETERA