IWAS shocked to read that since the General Election, out of 325 votes in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister has only voted 14 times.

Although I am a Labour voter, I have to admit that New Labour has shown contempt for the House of Commons since coming to power. Policy decisions are leaked to the media before MPs are informed. Tony Blair has become very arrogant and is becoming a dictator.

Left-wing MPs, who, in my opinion, are the real socialists, have been barred from standing for office in the Scottish Parliament. And Ken Livingstone, who would make a superb mayor of London, is very unlikely to become the Labour candidate because Mr Blair wants a Labour yes-man as mayor.

Mr Blair needs to realise that the Labour Party is a socialist party, not the Tory Party, Mark II. It seems to me that he is so caught up with being Prime Minister that he has forgotten this.

V SMITH, Whalley New Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.