WITH the recent elections now behind us I am mindful of the pitiful number of people who bothered to vote.

We really must be asking our politicians why?

I beleive the public have lost all trust in their politicians and councillors, and is it any wonder when you look at their appalling record.

A few recent examples...

We were told that weapons of mass destruction were imminent, so the war in Iraq went ahead.

John Selwyn Gummer said 'beef was safe to eat'.# We were told we were joining a common market with no loss of sovereignty, all the while they knew we were being tied into fraudulent federal state.

We were told only 5'000 immigrants would be coming in from the two new member countries, in 2006 - it was ten times that amount!

And those are only the ones we knew about through government mismanagement.

Geoff Hoon claimed the treaty was just a 'tidying up exercise' but in truth it meant handing over more power to the EU.

Our local councils allow the destruction of homes and buildings even childrens playing fields! against the wishes of those they supposedly represent.

They then increase their salary and already inflated and protected pension schemes at the expense of the taxpayer.

They will retire on the kind of income most of us could only dream of, (and they work for who?) How can we then expect anyone to trust them, especially our young voters when these are the sort of messages they get from those in a so-called position of trust.

How can anyone trust those who trample over the wishes of the people who elected them? How can they trust those who are urinating on the graves of the fallen in two world wars when we hear of the scandals such as the cash for honours.

If Edwina Currie told of the salmonella in eggs and she was promptly sacked!

I would like to say to all those who did not vote for the above reasons 'think very seriously before the next general election, if you still cannot trust them? then give the smaller parties a chance.

MAURICE BENNETT, Bursledon.