I read the excellent article by Will Lodge about Colchester MP Bob Russell and his questions in the House (Gazette, July 14). I vote for him not because I am a Lib Dem, but because I am for democracy and try to be liberal!

Mr Russell has always come across as a good constituency MP. He asks questions which is what the public elected him to do.

So OK, he asks about bees. Well, bees are vital to the well-being of our food chain and the question is relevant.

He asks about VAT and health and public sector workers jobs. All vital questions to the UK economy and people.

I am delighted to read he has asked six different Government departments variations of the same question, because it shows he is being thorough in his questioning and is able to compare the replies to determine if he gets six different answers. We all know that politicians and Government departments give answers which suit their purposes.

Councillor Kevin Bentley questions if this necessary. Well, councillor Bentley, had the same questioning technique been applied to the Vaf project and the same degree of thoroughness for answers sought, then I suggest we would not have the fiasco of the Vaf !

But it appears that very little, if any, questions were asked, no answers were given, and no thorough contracts were put in place to safeguard taxpayers’ money.

Where were all the questions by our elected representatives?

What about the public petition against Mile End housing and parking in Crouch Street? Let’s not forget Colchester’s bus station, North Station traffic bottleneck or the empty shops.

As for councillor Young’s letter, well just consider why we are in this mess?

The answer is 13 years of the Labour government with missed opportunity and waste, leaving the UK in massive debt with bloated public services.

Mr Russell, please keep asking the questions. You do good for Colchester.

It’s Colchester councillors who let us down because they just accept what suits them!

Allan Hewitt
Bluebell Way
Colchester