EVERY week we read all about our local MP Mel Stride in his column visiting different organisations, patting himself on the back for all the good work he is doing for his constituency.

I wonder if he has ever thought of standing up in question time and asking the Prime Minister when he's going to stop giving British taxpayers money in aid to overseas countries who do not need it and are a lot better off than we are? Or indeed stand up and thump the table and ask the Prime Minister when he's going to start listening to what the electors are saying?

And while I'm about it, ask why people who can afford to pay £15,000 to £20,000 for a new car, many pay nothing in road tax. So who is paying for the upkeep of our roads? Guess who! The likes of me, the pensioner with my eleven year-old car, paying £245 per year. I'm sure that if I could afford to buy a new car I wouldn't mind paying £200 plus road fund license. Oh, by the way, no, I do not drive a 4x4, just a small 1.4cc family car.

Well, I'm glad I've got that off my chest. Will anyone listen, I doubt it!

David Luckhurst

Okehampton