SIR - I really enjoyed reading Mike Priestley's comments (T&A, December 29) about the new Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg, pictured left, and I fully appreciate his cynical evaluation of what it is, if anything, that the major parties have to offer.

As Labour, the Conservatives and Liberals all compete for the same middle ground of British politics, each trying to outdo the other as the acceptable face of socialism, you begin to understand the apathy that overtakes voters at election time.

Just when you thought Labour had done liberal-socialism to death, up pops Clegg to announce that what this country needs is: "A more liberal Britain, a country where parents and pupils are in charge of our schools."

I was under the impression that Mr Clegg's liberalism had already put pupils in charge of schools, and has assisted in the process towards the drop in standards and the complete collapse of discipline and respect.

Where has the Lib-Dem leader been for the past ten years? Voters are crying out for a return to traditional conservatism, old fashioned values which saw teachers treated with respect, criminals punished with sentences that reflected their crimes, and our borders secure from the endless influx of illegal immigrants and people who simply should not be here.

Andrew Clarke, Halifax Road, Bradford