SOME of the electorate do not vote, but do complain about the Government. People say: “I can’t change anything”. But together you can.

Voters have the right to question and criticise their MP, who is elected to represent the voter.

The public in a democracy has power if it is harnessed. Tell your MP how you want them to vote in the House of Commons on matters of importance.

A good American ideal of government is: “Of the people, for the people, by the people”. This applies to the UK too, but you have to fight for it. Voting in more independent MPs could break the two-party system.

Government policy is decided by a small number of party members in the hierarchy. Rank-and-file members toe the party line.

Successive governments committed us to wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan, fought and paid for by the common man, with disastrous results in loss of life and property.

The First and Second World Wars bankrupted the British Empire, leaving the UK as a small impoverished island.

Germany now dominates the UK economically.

As for our membership of the EU, the experiment has been given time and has failed. We should demand legislation for a referendum now, asking a simple question: In or out?

R Smith, Dodsworth Avenue, York.