Clearly and perhaps deliberately, Richard Samways misses the importance of maintaining a position of ‘neutrality’ as a leader to facilitate progress towards decision-making in a group containing disparate views.

It doesn’t follow that a facilitator will necessarily approve of the outcome. He doesn’t have to. That is not his aim. Instead, Richard argues that both the Labour and Tory parties have ideologies.

I agree. I happen to favour the one which concentrates on fairness, equality, equal opportunities, care for the disadvantaged, health and social care.

I do not favour an ideology which favours the rich, believes in elitism, networking as a substitute for merit, austerity paid for by the already disadvantaged and a housing policy which puts the needy into ‘rabbit hutches’ and pays landlords £28 billion per annum of our cash via housing benefit. Not to mention Grenfell and Windrush.

If we had a political system of proportional representation, instead of our almost unique unrepresentative FPTP, our Cabinets would comprise representatives from all ideologies.

This would demand the qualities of facilitators with Corbyn’s ability to remain neutral under pressure from all sides.

That is neutral leadership. It leads to consensus. Quite absent now in the UK. Do keep to the point Richard!

Mike Joslin

Dorchester