I am saddened by the letters from Coun Mulla and Fiona Galbraith. The tone struck me – the use of words like ‘night-mare’, ‘rogue’, ‘toffs’ ‘disgusted’, ‘devil’. They portray a bitterness and nastiness which disappoints me, and a sort of inverted snobbery.

It was widely argued for several years leading up to the General Election that the electorate had very little to choose from in terms of policy as the parties were so close together. So it’s hardly surprising that we got this split decision. Faced with that, there were really three options: Tory minority Government; Lab/Lib Coalition; or Con/Lib Coalition.

Options one and two would have left us with another election within 12 months and both options would have increased the chance of us experiencing similar problems to those facing some EU nations.

I’m sure there were quite a lot of Tories in Burnley who voted tactically for the Lib Dems, just as there are Lib Dems and Labour doing the same elsewhere. Just accept the result, accept that this Government was inevitable.

Why not start to judge the new Government in a year or two, and when you do, try to make your argument more constructively.

Richard Taylor (via email).