I CAN only assume that your headline, ‘It’s Good to Talk’ is Robert Gould’s idea of a sick joke having led West Dorset District Council for some years with a lack of communication with his electorate defying polite description. Now, as leader of Dorset County Council, he has decided to employ an expert to advise him.

‘Communication’ is derived from the Latin Communicare, meaning "to share...... which is a purposeful activity of exchanging information.

I assume this includes using one’s mouth and ears. Perhaps Mr Gould should have saved ratepayers’ cash and instead asked his GP for an appointment with an NHS speech and language therapist!

I was delighted to read letters from Jon Orrell (TINA’s alternative), Richard Denton-White (All ages to vote in May) and Rodney Best (Fair deal for OAPs). They were all critical of the ‘first past the post’ voting process. This has corrupted its main purpose of electing politicians by doing so grossly disproportionately to how the electorate voted.

Locally it has permitted WDDC to force through its own agendas ignoring conflicting views on subjects like the Titanic in Dorchester and St Michael’s in Bridport. It has also encouraged politicians who are vulnerable to the lure of power to forget their wider responsibilities. I recently suggested to Oliver Letwin that FPTP creates a political arena fertile to such abuse. He told me he prefers it.

FPTP is antiquated and obsolete in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. Proportional representation has replaced it and produced higher turn-outs at elections. FPTP not only fails to protect the electorate from the abuse of power but also produces politicians who are likewise unfit for purpose.

I have reason to believe each one of the political parties in West Dorset, with the exception of Mr Letwin’s, supports PR. If we vote at the next general election to put the process right, better democracy, will follow naturally. It’s a no-brainer of a choice in my opinion; let them read their scripts and then vote Yes for PR and No to FPTP.

MIKE JOSLIN

Garfield Avenue

Dorchester