SIR – Continuing the series ‘News items the Establishment would like to keep very quiet’.

Yesterday, the House of Lords overwhelmingly defeated a Tory motion to redraw UK electoral boundaries. This was a Bill the Tories had said would save money by producing fewer MPs. Of course, being Tories, what they really meant was, it was a Bill that would have guaranteed the Tories a further 20 seats in Parliament.

The Government was defeated because the Lib Dem peers were directed to oppose the Bill and vote with Labour to defeat it.

Well Hussar! Unfortunately, rather than a moment of political clarity, their belated stance was simply payback from the Lib Dems because the Tory right had defeated their plans to reform the House of Lords.

I think we can assume from this that if the Tories had supported the Lib Dem agenda for the House of Lords, the Lib Dems would have then supported the Bill to redraw nonsensical parliamentary boundaries and thereby greatly enhance the Tory prospects of winning a majority next time?

I find it very worrying that these nincompoop Lib Dems are actually holding the balance of power!

Christopher Hindle, Osterley Grove, Bradford