I GREW tired of hearing about the Alternative Vote (AV) and first past the post (FPTP) in the run-up to the referendum.

The simplest way forward would be to make elections compulsory. That way there would be as fair a picture of public opinion as possible.

At present it is too easy for those who fail to get elected to use voter apathy as a lever to demand change. Regarding the referendum, it only represented the views of the minority who bothered to turn out to vote.

It would have been possible with AV that we would have been blessed with a government no one actually likes.

The present system has stood the test of time and is emulated worldwide. Politicians should leave satisfactory systems alone. That goes for other things too, nationally and locally. The NHS comes to mind. In its original form it was right, now with trusts etc, it is sicker than the patients it treats.

On a local subject, traffic management in Malton for instance requires access to the bypass from York Road and Broughton Road as an absolute priority if any attempt to develop the town centre etc, and reduce HGV access is to be achieved.

The county council improvement proposals are otherwise unworkable.

EL Thompson, Crambe, York.