AND so apparently the York Liberal Democrats have learned little from their national collapse at this year’s election, having once again joined hands with the Tories. One last final fling or simply a thirst for power?

At a national level we cannot be so short-sighted, we cannot ignore past mistakes as we look to correct the path this country is taking.

Seventy five per cent of us did not vote for this government.

We do not believe in their elitist policies, we do not subscribe to their rhetoric of fear and hatred.

We know there is a better way.

This is why the progressives must unite.

We cannot defeat the self-serving right if our voice remains fractured. We cannot be too dogmatic with our own principles, or we fail the 75 per cent who want change.

If we do, in five years the Tories will rule supreme again resulting in an even more fractured and divided state; a two-tier health service, a two tier education system, a divided community, us and them, little England, alone, isolated.

There will be “no such thing as society”; the gap between the rich and poor will widen, more children will grow up in poverty and mental illness and suicide rates will rise alongside crime and extremism as more and more people feel excluded.

We must come together.

The Greens, the Liberals, Labour, SNP and Plaid Cymru for the next election to bring in proportional representation.

Only then will our vote count, our voice be heard and our country return to being a true democracy.

Sebastian Butterworth, St Clements Grove, York.