SIR – I see MP Kris Hopkins has proposed that town or parish councils must hold a referendum if they propose a precept rise of two per cent of more. That’s a bit rich coming from a member of the Conservative Party to demand referenda when they routinely reject the people’s right to have a say on important national issues.

As a member of a party that puts referenda at the heart of its manifesto, I would never reject the public’s calls to have their say on any important local issue, although I wonder is Mr Hopkins aware that having a referenda at parish council level may well be a lot more expensive than the actual precept rise?

Clearly Mr Hopkins has a hole in his latest policy, not dissimilar to the huge hole he left in Bradford from his reign of degeneration.

Jason Smith, UKIP Bradford chairman, Woodlands Avenue, Queensbury