Parliament

(HAS, May 27). For instance, the Queen could only dissolve Parliament without being requested to do so by the Prime Minister were she advised to do so by the Privy Council.

What I want to make clear is that Gordon Brown is not my leader. I recognise his intellectual ability, but I see no evidence of the moral superiority he claims. He is the man who would have a suspect held in custody for 42 days without being charged with any offence. He would bulldoze his way forward were it not for the checks and balances in our constitution.

I think of Lenin’s testament when he counselled against Stalin having supreme power. I would make similar appraisals of Mr Brown’s personality, except that we live in a democracy and in post-revolutionary Russia they were vulnerable to arbitrary rule.

I think that the actions taken to keep the banks afloat were necessary and should have been supported.

I want a General Election for the electors to decide the way forward. They would be no better placed to make their decision were the Parliament to last the full term than they will be in September or October.

Geoffrey Bulmer, Billingham.