CHRIS DAVIES, Liberal Democrat MP in the North West, seems to be taking Marie Antoinette's suggestion "let them eat cake" to heart.

I recently had the temerity to write to Mr Davies about a matter that was concerning me. It relates to this December's Treaty of Nice and the powers that MEPs are seizing. They wish to lay down the conditions for what political parties may have in their constitutions and rule books -- that's an interesting debate in its own right but not directly relevant to what follows.

This seemed to me so highly illiberal, not to say totalitarian, that I asked Mr Davies to comment on how he proposed to resist this. His reply has staggered me.

After rejecting my question out of hand (calling me paranoid in the process), he goes on to say:

"Finally, you state that I am your representative, and that 'whether I agree with you or not is not the point.' Sorry, but it is very much the point. "I suspect you fail to appreciate the difference between a single member constituency and a multi-member regional one. In the former, individual constituents have no choice but to go to the one elected representative however much they may despise that person. However in a multi-member seat, with MEPs elected by proportional representation, they have the choice to go to whichever of the ten North West MEPs they believe most closely reflects their views. Clearly in your case I am not that person and I advise you to go and find someone who shares your opinions.

Yours sincerely, Chris Davies."

So there we have it. Mr Davies is rejecting out of hand our centuries old custom that MPs will represent us in Parliament whether we have voted for them or not, or whether they agree with us or not.

It would seem that after 14 months in what passes for a democracy in Brussels, power and privilege has gone to his head. It is clear that he has contempt for anyone who doesn't share his Eurocentric view, and it is a warning for what is in store if the UK ever goes down the proportional representation route in domestic politics.

For those who might like to learn more of Mr Davies' political philosophy, I don't suppose he will mind my passing on his e-mail address (it is publicly available on the EU web site) since if he doesn't like what you say you'll probably be ignored anyway. He can be reached at: chrisdaviesmep@cix.co.uk.

Richard Buttrey,

Marlborough Crescent,

Warrington.