A reader recently stated in The Argus (March 11) that “we only have a few more months left under the Greens and they will be gone”.

We normally talk about “not counting chickens before they hatch” but here we have a case of “not counting votes before they are cast”.

I am of the opinion that the next elections could well be won by the party which can win over the support of the tens of thousands of university and college students who, while not paying so much as a penny in council tax, can, through the ballot box, decide how the tax of everyone gets spent.

For the vast majority of them, this will be their first opportunity to have their say on the composition of local government and for them it’s a win-win situation.

If their candidates get elected they can rejoice. However, if their elected representatives turn out to be incompetent it will be of no concern to them. They will have finished their courses and be long gone before, to quote another phrase, “the chickens come home to roost”.

It is not a very democratic situation whereby a group of non-taxpayers can decide how the money of the actual taxpayer gets spent.

One of the slogans of the American Revolution was “No taxation without representation.” Perhaps the time has come turn that on its head and begin to demand, “No representation without taxation.”

Eric Waters, Ingleside Crescent, Lancing