SO what did we learn from the European elections in York? The first thing was that fewer than half the people in the city voted.

Secondly, that in this district the Conservatives got the largest number of votes. Had it been a General Election, Hugh Bayley would have lost his seat.

Thirdly, that UKIP beat the Liberal Democrats into third place, nationally.

The General Election is now probably less than a year away.

We all know that more people vote in a General Election so what do we need to consider?

Conservative Party leader Michael Howard has identified Labour's Achilles heel - the compulsion to spend even larger amounts of taxpayers' money for very little return.

The average household now pays £5,000 more in tax, in 66 different ways since Labour came to power in 1997.

It is no wonder that membership of Labour is now at its lowest since before the First World War.

Meanwhile, the Conservative party now has more members than Labour and the Liberal Democrats put together.

Disillusionment with Labour aside, the Conservative party is enjoying an intellectual revival.

Michael Howard has given the party a clear and distinctive new vision: that people should be big and the State should be small.

Taxes are too high. Local council tax in York is too high - by an additional £95 per home this year.

The Lib Dem busybodies are helping no one with the introduction of evening parking charges, more double yellow lines across the city centre, complicated discount scratch cards for residents parking and increased Respark charges.

Clive Booth,

York's Conservative Parliamentary candidate,

Ash Street,

Holgate,

York.

...DURING the past months I have become increasingly concerned at the damage being done by the Liberal Democrat-controlled council to the city, damage which could well be irreparable.

The Barbican shambles has denied the residents of York a county standard swimming pool, a facility that would have brought competitive swimming to the city and all that entails, for the sake of squeezing more money out of the developers. There is no doubting that evening car parking charges, along with new parking restrictions, will damage the economy of York, to the extent that those whose business depends on evening trade may well have to close.

I am certain that the residents of this city and its villages are wondering how on earth they were hoodwinked when they now consider the antics of this dreadful and discredited council.

Had the Conservatives still held the balance of power York would be getting a county standard swimming pool and would not be suffering damaging evening car parking charges nor new draconian parking restrictions.

I fear there are further damaging antics on the horizon from a controlling political group that is devoid of vision and common sense.

John C Galvin,

Bridge Road,

Bishopthorpe,

York.

...NOW that the Euro elections are over and done with I want to ask the anti-Europe brigade why do so many vocal 'Little Englanders' spend half the year living abroad?

PR Willey,

Burnholme Drive,

Heworth,

York.

...REMEMBER the hysterical warnings from the anti-Europeans and tabloid newspapers about Britain being flooded by immigrants from eastern Europe on May 1?

Well, it's now been six weeks since we welcomed ten new countries into the European Union and the floods of immigrants have spectacularly failed to arrive - just as they did in 1981, 1986 and 1995.

Yet another Eurosceptic scare story has been discredited.

Richard Corbett,

Labour MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber,

Blenheim Terrace,

Leeds.

Updated: 09:32 Thursday, June 17, 2004