SIR – The behaviour of political parties becomes more extreme and less democratic. They behave like children squabbling in an infant’s playground.

So is it any wonder people are disgusted and boycott elections?

It isn’t a change of political party we need; it’s the elimination of them altogether. Most people know it makes no difference which party is in power.

They are all the same and controlled by wealth and the Establishment from the shadows. In a capitalist society the only vote that counts is wealth. Therefore the most democratic thing we can do is to boycott elections to discredit them.

The present government is a perfect example of the failure of democracy.

The key statistics in any election are the turnout and the percentage of those who voted for the ‘winning’ party.

These are glossed over and we are governed by groups representing minorities.

Instead of voting for parties, we should be specifying how we want taxes used.

The greatest enemies of democracy are political parties, unlimited capitalism and financial inequality.

Not until we get rid of these can we call ourselves a democracy.

Malcolm Naylor, Grange View, Otley