HOW satisfying that the "little man" with big principles can have his say, as shown at Sedgefield when Reg Keays told the nation what he thought of Tony Blair and his policies.

How refreshing to see George Galloway getting his day in front of the whole world and pulling no punches.

How much longer will this be a real option? Both of our main political parties seem hell bent on restricting our civil liberties, as demonstrated by their agreement on introducing identity cards.

The judiciary are implicated too, witness the electronic tagging and curfew of an elderly Menwith Hill protestor. Mobile phones and computers have tagging software so spooks in the Pentagon can keep track of our lives.

It seems to be the aim of government these days to know what we are thinking before we even think it. What are they afraid of? If the terrorists had wanted to bomb us, they would have done so long ago. We have oil refineries, chemical plants, huge centres of transportation, all vulnerable places protected in our usual haphazard way by people at the bottom end of the employment ladder and on minimum wages.

Andy Baldock,

Villa Grove,

York.

Updated: 10:54 Friday, May 20, 2005