MADAM – With the general election approaching daily, may I soften the blow of broken promises about to be inflicted upon the electorate with a few lines of doggerel: “Your every need they claim to meet if only they can gain the seat. As virtue ooze from every pore a promise pledged at every door, and when they win and you complain that things are bad or just the same, they claim that joy is won through strife that’s why it’s such a happy life.”

Francis Ray

Stroud

Editor's note: We will not be publishing any more letters about the election until after May 7.