IN response to my recent letter in your column, my local councillor has informed me that the gobbledy-gook job opportunities advertised in your paper are the result of edicts issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Brussels.

I had not appreciated we are now existing under a form of dictatorship, whose every word must be obeyed. What is also patently obvious is that our elected representatives are not querying the effect of these pronouncements on the people who elected them, especially the financial implications, usually to our detriment.

Herefordshire Council should be fighting for the rights of the people of this county not cow - towing to those who have no real appreciation of problems in rural areas. It requires backbone to stand up to authoritarian rule, a trait that appears to be sadly lacking.

We wait to see how much our council tax will be increased this year and you can bet it will far in excess of the rate of inflation pensions are pegged to.

Wally Bowles,

sycamore Place, Credenhill.