Trevor Farrer (Letters, July 13, 'Young need to read history') points out the age disparity evidenced by the results of the recent General Election.

In a democracy the ballot box is both sovereign and egalitarian. However much fun pollsters and psephologists may derive from identifying groups of voters, all votes are of equal value.

It is less than 100 years since the British people gained universal and equal suffrage on the basis of one person, one vote.

Trevor's assertion that the young tend to be more left wing also deserves scrutiny. My experience is, that while young people are socially liberal and supportive of greater equality, they are often very business and enterprise orientated.

Similarly many older voters are keen on strong social protection and state intervention. The Conservative party has recently entered into a confidence and supply agreement with the very statist DUP.

Trevor mentions the 1970s, often a favourite target of the political right, despite the fact that Britain was governed by the Conservatives for half of the decade. Indeed Ted Heath's top rate of income tax was 75 per cent, much higher than rates proposed recently by any political party.

In my view the danger to economic and political stability came in the following decade. In the early 1980s inflation reached 20 per cent, unemployment grew to more than three million and one third of manufacturing industry was destroyed, leaving us over dependent on the service sector.

Riots on the streets and despair in the communities which created the wealth of our country for centuries was a tragedy to behold. I think we can all learn from our history.

John A. Bateson

Oxenholme