WAS the very low turnout in the General Election really due to widespread apathy? Maybe more and more of the public are now realising that parliamentary democracy is a complete sham, that once elected we have no further control over our rulers.

The entire out-dated system is ridiculous. Consider that we pay one person (the Prime Minister) a very large sum to do a job, another person (the opposition leader) almost as much to stop them doing it.

What then is the alternative? We should elect a government for a fixed period that acts in an advisory and administrative manner, not a legislative one.

The answer surely is government by referendum. This means in effect that the people decide everything by popular vote. We would no longer suffer the elected dictators of Westminster.

Government by this method has enabled Switzerland to become one of the most prosperous and law abiding nations in the world.

The Swiss, who have a unique military structure and remain free of foreign entanglements, such as the European Union, have also enjoyed 400 years of peace.

Our kinsmen in the United States also have a system of recall, initiative and referendum which is widely employed.

It does not seem to be widely realised that the United States is not a democracy but was founded as a federal republic. It is the sole remaining world power and our natural friends and allies.

Sham democracy is no part of the western Christian tradition. Its origins like in ancient Greece, a pagan society resting on a foundation of serfdom or slavery. Remember also that Adolf Hitler was a democratically elected politician.

THOMAS HOWARTH, Fowler Height Close, Blackburn.