Sir – Mr Brian Wallis suggests (Letters, May 23) that I have forgotten the referendum about proportional representation. Not so.
I recall that only about one-third of voters bothered to vote in it and of those some two-thirds rejected the proposal.
That amounted to about a quarter of registered votes, not: “the vast majority of the public”, alleged by Mr Wallis. I do not think that referendums are a necessary or even useful part of democracy.
Most people in England do not seem to be interested in politics, still less in constitutional matters. But I do think it necessary for an elected assembly to reflect the political views of those who vote.
That is why I have long supported proportional representation and will always do so because I believe in genuine democracy. Mr Wallis is correct when he suggests I only believe in the bits of democracy which suit me, ie those bits which I consider rational and just, having studied the matter for over 60 years.
M. Hugh-Jones, Oxford
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