READING letters about the Get York Building fiasco, why does the council choose yet again to hold mystical consultations, then go on to ignore the advice of grassroots experts such as Matthew Laverack?

I am a cab driver travelling many miles a day on York’s streets, but I have been ignored in any of my “chats” with Highways, who never take any notice of bus, ambulance or fire appliance drivers or indeed anyone who doesn’t come under the banner of an official consultation.

This attitude continues all the way to the top, for example regarding the second Gulf War.

According to ITV daily phone-ins from hundreds of thousands of viewers on whether Britain should invade, 82 per cent said no, 17 per cent didn’t know and three per cent said yes – so we invaded, with the subsequent debacle.

Are we living in a democracy? I don’t think so, unless that word means to elect someone who, when elected, ignores the opinion of the electorate.

D McTernan, Fossway, York.