Sir – Under a heading (County's MEP is critical of tax breaks for fracking, July 25) you report that Keith Taylor is the Green Party MEP for Oxfordshire.
Could I point out that Oxfordshire is not a European Parliamentary Constituency.
It was a constituency until 1999 when it was dissolved into a new constituency called the South East region, which consists of nine counties. Mr Taylor does not represent Oxfordshire, he represents the South East region of the UK.
This region has ten MEPs elected on the absurd electoral system of Party List, which is based on percentage of votes equalling percentage of seats.
This system caused political paralysis in Italy with 48 changes of government in 50 years and is at the heart of the failure of Israel to elect a form of majority government, so necessary to drive the Middle East peace process forward. In passing, it is worth recalling that the last European elections for the South East region produced four Conservative, two UKIP, two Lib Dems, one Green, and one Labour.
The turnout was 37 per cent of which the Green Party had 11 per cent support. Some four per cent of the electorate voted for the Green Party, which is hardly a mandate to speak for the South East region, let alone Oxfordshire. Part of the modern day disillusionment with politicians is overblown claims, setting their own agendas without any real democratic mandate. Mr Taylor is one such example of these faults.
John Power, Oxford
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here