Dear Editor, I shudder at the very thought of giving more power to the people locally. This means giving people who we never see and who we know very little about the power to rule our lives – again!

The reform that politicians are suggesting means more or less of the same, including the same outrageous costs and potential for corruption. We are governed by people on extraordinarily high wages, in quangos, councillors in town and parish councils, district councils, county councils, regional councils and numerous committees formed within these institutions. We have Westminster and its Parliament (and the Lords) with 650 MPs, all of which have hundreds of thousands of supporting civil servants who all have to be paid through the tax bill and for what? We then go from Westminster to the European Parliament with its 78 British MEPs and their entourage of civil servants, plus our tax contribution to the EU fund of £5 billion.

My biggest reform would be to come out of the European Union with a “reformed” agreement for common trade and cultural mixing, something like the Eisteddfod, to get to know each other better. Our local councils should be reformed by rationalising the many echelons, as above.

District councils collect the local council tax, take what they want out of it and pass the rest to the county council. Either the district councils should go or the county councils. I would favour the latter.

Our laws and services are cast in stone and all we need is a company management structure to provide and protect them.

With regard to MPs’ expenses, I have been very surprised that they have been allowed such a free hand and such a free range. Surely each MP should be given a budget, agreed at the time of his tenure, and he/she should work and live within it. As far as I am concerned, rather than a reform we need a revolution! If we are going to do it, let’s do it good.

If Phil Davis would like help or more advice, I am willing to be at his service, for a substantial fee, plus expenses of course!

D Wathen

Rushford, Salford Priors, Nr Evesham