Marguerite Marsh (Letters, August 20) refers to both a member of Parliament and members of a local council as “The Green Party”.
Of course Caroline Lucas is a member of the Green Party, as are the Green councillors on Brighton and Hove Council.
They share policies such as opposing Trident, bringing rail back into public ownership and opposing fracking (as indeed do I, although not a member of the Green Party).
But, although our country is the most centralised in Europe, as yet members of Parliament do not, and cannot, also run local councils.
As an MP, Caroline Lucas is expected to pursue national policies, hence her welcome public support for the recent Balcombe demonstrations.
And it is locally-elected councillors who run Brighton and Hove. They are responsible for decisions concerning the city, whatever one thinks of those decisions.
Democracy relies on clear information, so let us not confuse things.
Joyce Edmond-Smith, former Labour councillor, Brighton
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