On September 22, hundreds of thousands marched through London in protest at the destruction of our agricultural industries.

Demonstrating against the Government will achieve nothing because it is only the messenger. The Countryside Alliance is simply channelling protesters down a blind alley because its plans to 'reform' the Common Agricultural Policy are a total non-starter.

Just like his predecessors, President Chirac will simply block change and, under the terms of our EU membership, Britain will just have to accept it.

We have only ourselves to blame for letting the politicians give away power, in defiance of our constitutional rights and to the benefit of our competitors.

Unless rural communities can reassert the sovereignty of our parliament through the streets - and if necessary the courts - they will lose their liberty and their livelihood.

If we are to save our countryside, we must first win back our country.

Bob Lomas.

Dragons Green,

Horsham, Sussex.

...I read Alun Michael's comments on the Liberty And Livelihood March with some amusement.

How can he claim he doesn't know what the march was about? I was under the impression he had been given a list of ten issues that explained exactly why the march was taking place.

If this is an attempt to ignore a demonstration by more than 400,000 people he needs a new spin doctor.

In the spirit of explanation, I feel I should also comment on the comparisons between Tony Blair and Hitler made by some marchers. While melodramatic, there is a specific reason for this comparison.

Hunting with dogs takes place in Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy; but not Germany. The only European leader to ban hunting with dogs in the last century was Hitler.

Oliver Barker,

Trafalgar St, York.

Updated: 10:28 Wednesday, September 25, 2002