THE letter from Dr Richard House (SNJ, Dec 14) appears to have been delayed in post.

He replies to letters written a couple of months ago but before Labour’s catastrophically embarrassing recent by-election results.

In Richmond Park, where the Tories and Ukip did not stand, the Labour candidate came third and lost his deposit.

Labour did manage to keep retain their deposit in Sleaford & North Hykeham although their candidate came fourth.

Both candidates lost over seven per cent of Labour support from last year’s General Election!

Those results put a lie to Richard’s headline claim that those with different opinions to his are wrong.

It seems they are more in tune with the real voting public than him.

Richard is frit rigid with comparisons to Michael Foot.

Jeremy Corbyn is treading an almost identical path to Foot’s 1983 election campaign where Labour had the lowest share of the vote since 1918 and fewest MPs since before 1945. The difference to now is that Foot was respected by both friend and opponent.

It is common knowledge that the extreme hard left are engineering to take over the Labour Party.

Richard may huff and puff in disagreement but knows full well it is true. And that is why moderate Labour voters are fleeing the party in droves.

The new signed-up members of Labour are undoubtedly members of Marxist parties, thrown out of Labour in times past, but who nevertheless voted Labour.

Corbyn does not have an additional half million voters in his back pocket.

Whether proportional representation is supported by 57 per cent of voters is immaterial.

The country voted against an Alternate Vote scheme in 2011 and the subject is now officially closed.

Richard is barking up the wrong tree trying to re-open that debate.

In nearly every letter from Richard he complains that all the national press are right wing.

In one respect he is quite right.

Even Labour supporting newspapers are to the right of Corbyn’s extreme hard left party.

‘Fleet Street’ scrutinises all of the different parties manifestos and Corbyn’s Labour has been found wanting, which obviously upsets them.

That is why, as a BBC undercover documentary exposed, Labour uses stooges to write to local newspapers for free publicity with a lesser chance of having their eccentric views being challenged.

Richard seems to have fully taken this to heart with a weekly letter to various local publications.

One should remember when reading these letters he is not a ‘concerned local citizen’ but an active political campaigner.

Fortunately, plenty have seen through him and that is why his letters have become the butt of many a joke. And lastly I must say to Richard that you are very hypocritical. To get the hump and complain when someone of a different opinion mocks you in print, but then reply in similar manner (as in your first paragraph) beggars belief. I will offer you a friendly word of advice – stop writing political letters until nearer the election. Keep your powder dry – it will be far more effective used at right time.

Tom Newman

Stroud