Ron Bishops' rejection of Proportional Representation (PR) is ill informed (SNJ letters 4/6/03). He acknowledges our electoral system "may not be perfect" but then fails to suggest improvements other than not paying councillors more.

Democracy is a continuum; any democracy can be more or less democratic than others. While there have been small gains under Labour, they have failed to measure up to the task to create a modern democratic state and restore public confidence in the way people are governed.

Current legislation is poorly framed, ill-thought-through and largely unchecked. Labour have not honoured pre-election pledges to share official information with the public, shadowy royal prerogative powers still exist, power is being centralised and a referendum on our electoral system has been indefinitely postponed since the current system gives Labour huge majorities.

Turnout at all elections is falling and falling faster in Britain than almost anywhere in Europe. Less than 60 per cent of registered voters bothered to vote. Formally Labour won a landslide in seats, but not in votes. The "non-Voting Party" eclipsed Blair by 15 per cent. Parliament is losing authority.

The prospect of prolonged single-party rule, quite unrepresentative of the people's political choices, damages democracy.

We need to modernise government in the UK if we are to restore confidence. PR would be a significant step in making peoples votes count, but we also need other changes like a written constitution, an elected "House of Lords", more openness, a Human Rights Commission, more independent local government, less bias towards business interests in public participation and more defined powers for the Prime Minister and ministers.

Philip Booth, Gloucestershire Green Party.