GRAHAM Bartlett (Gazette letters, March 4) queries the cost of keeping our MP, David Drew. That is the trouble with democracy - it's expensive.

It would be much cheaper if we didn't expect MPs to respond to our letters, or take up problems on our behalf, or keep us informed about issues that are important to us. This would save the cost of all those envelopes, paper and stamps. Also, MPs would not need to rent offices or pay staff to help them.

Until early this century, MPs were not paid at all. Virtually all of them were gentlemen of independent means or sponsored by wealthy benefactors. If we could go back to those days, this would save more money on salaries. Ordinary working people would not be able to stand for parliament but that might be a worthwhile sacrifice to save us the trouble of paying for an MP.

I have also noticed the helpful staff at my polling station and I imagine they are paid for their trouble. It cannot be cheap to print all those ballot papers and what about the cost of all those people who count the votes let alone the postage for all those people who vote from home.

It is a fearful inconvenience for me to spend a few minutes voting for an MP every four years when I am busy watching television. All things considered, it might be cheaper for us to have a dictatorship. If Saddam Hussein is acquitted of crimes against humanity, perhaps we could get advice from him about how the country should be run.

Diane Whitford Morris Orchard Cam