In Channel 4's Dispatches programme on Monday, May 23, the MP for Hove, Celia Barlow, and a few Labour Party activists were shown demonstrating outside the Brighton Centre against the Tories during their party conference.

Any Left-leaning person, such as myself, would say this was a good thing - except that Ms Barlow and friends were posing as "ordinary people" for the benefit of the cameras and there was not a Labour Party banner among them.

What they did have were "home-made looking", hand-written placards all in the same writing. Similarly organised displays followed non-Labour politicians around the country during the election.

As a regular demonstrator in Brighton, I've not seen Ms Barlow demonstrating over any other important issues in the city. Is this the only reason the Government maintains the right to protest?

It was made clear in the programme events such as this were orchestrated by the huge propaganda machine at Labour Party headquarters, aided by US advisors and strategists.

In the run-up to the election, huge efforts were also made to give the false impression the Prime Minister was going out of his way to speak to ordinary people but, in each photo-opportunity, he was, in reality, surrounded by supporters, party faithful and assorted sycophants.

At any Labour event, any dissent was carefully and discreetly obscured while public displays of worship were carefully organized for the cameras.

I and others witnessed this at Hove Town Hall the weekend before the election, where Sussex Police were - possibly unwittingly - instrumental in aiding the deception by using the threat of arrest to control demonstrators but helped line up supporters for TV cameras.

Labour HQ also organised the posting of "standard" letters to local papers, including The Argus, which were, in fact, written by party spin-doctors to give the appearance of spontaneous and grassroots support for the Government.

Labour knew more people trust the letters page than any other page of their local newspaper and hoped to sway opinion using this deception. But this technique distorts, abuses and devalues local and national democracy at a time when faith and trust in politicians and democracy is at an all-time low.

These are methods Joseph Goebbels would have been proud of and only go to show there are no lows to which the Labour Party is not prepared to stoop to cling on to power.

-Glenn Williams, Brighton