Lord Bassam speaks of our social democratic purpose (Opinion, July 31) in his spiel about the wonderfulness of cabinet-style local government.

Cronyism has been the hallmark of New Labour's antics in Government. Cabinet-style elitism and exclusivity are the perfect weapons with which to kill democracy stone dead.

Look what the cabinet did to Heather James, for example, when she failed to silence her conscience. Gagging councillors and reducing them to cut-outs propped onto chairs is not democratic.

So far, Lord Bassam's social democratic purpose has only produced high rents, low wages, hyper-inflated house prices, lap-dancing, casinos, cinemas, restaurants and gin palaces.

-Valerie Paynter, The Drive, Hove