THE EU representative for South Zeal (Letters, February 27) accuses Geoffrey Cox, the local Tory spokesman, of speaking without thinking. Hark at the pot calling the kettle black.

Dave Goodwin mocks Mr Cox for asking the electorate to support local councillors who wish to stop Devon County Council being scrapped, which implies that the electorate should only vote for candidates who support local government by local councils, such as county councils.

It is the Government, supported by the Lim Dems, including our photogenic MP, who are advocating the abolition of county councils and their replacement by neutered assemblies, with fewer powers than the Welsh Assembly, with offices in Bristol.

Regional assemblies will cost the council tax payer a lot of money in travel expenses alone. Councillors will wish to stay overnight in expensive hotels ? also at our expense.

Tony Blair promised us that there would be no regional assemblies unless the electorate wanted them. Yet council tax is already being siphoned off to help pay for the embryo assembly already set up. You won?t find it listed on your council tax demand. You are not supposed to know.

The idea of regional assemblies all over Europe was first thought up by Hitler when he was planning his conquest of Europe. It was taken up by the EU and given full support by the Labour and Lib Dem parties.

What they are supporting is the scrapping of 1,000 years of English history by destroying local democracy and the setting up of regional dictatorships against whom there will be no redress.

J W Reid

Limehayes Road

Okehampton

LIBERAL Democrat and European enthusiast, David Goodwin (Letters, February 27), says that the Lib Dems do fight for rural funding - but do they get anywhere?

It is all fine and well for the Lib Dems to parade up and down Whitehall and Downing Street with petitions that are in reality public relations exercises, but another thing to actually deliver what is needed.

Let?s remember that when Mr Burnett was first elected in 1997, he and the Lib Dems vowed to use their so-called ?influence? to deliver a ?fair deal? for Torridge and West Devon. Since then, what has Mr Burnett actually achieved other than a lot of photographs in the local newspapers?

Are our hospital waiting-lists shorter? Are Devon?s farmers better or worse off?

I for one expect more of my MP than mere platitudes and feelgood photographs.

Dr Joe Allen

Bridestowe