LIB DEM SENSE

IT is with great regret that I will not be standing in the General Election
this year.

Recent reports of election fraud in Birmingham and the Government's denial
of a fundamentally-flawed postal voting system, plus a lack of funds, make
my position difficult.

I plead with the people of York to think carefully about how they place
their votes.

The continued right wing reactionary politics of Labour and Conservatives,
fuelled mainly by the hysterical tabloid press, are far detached from the
views of the people of this country.

The Lib Dems are the only party to have given its drug policies any thought.
Labour are still committed to the US "war on drugs", a catastrophe which
will claim many more lives and continue to blight our country with crime.

The Conservative position is just plain barmy.

The future looks bleak. Tony Blair led our nation to war on lies, killing
hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians to secure America's future oil
reserves, while claiming to care for our environment. Michael Howard has
been accused of stealing the British National Party's policies.

Our democracy is crumbling with the politics of fear and prejudice ruling
the roost, an electoral system which is corrupt and unrepresentative.

Hugh Bayley is more concerned with ridding the streets of chewing gum than
of crime and drugs, and he hasn't the courtesy to respond to my call for a
public debate on cannabis. The 15,000-plus cannabis consumers in York will
struggle to find representation, and I fear for all our futures.

Steve Clements,

The Legalise Cannabis Alliance,

Church Street, York.