BEFORE James Brooks blames politicians in general for lying (Opinion, February 7), he could do well to remember who pressed for the Brexit "adventure" and who campaigned for it with bribery bus adverts ­— and who studiously refused to carry the warnings of those who said there was more than immigration on the ballot.

A lot of politics is cussed by those who do not listen; do not ask supplementary questions to clarify; can not or will not do the arithmetic; frequently mistake non objection as positive support; who think politics is not the real, but sports scores are.

Do you want answers to complex questions in headlines and have no patience to hear out the details where the devils lurk as small print.

Public business is expensive, complicated and often unwanted because it involves those whom the market refuses to pay decently or are plain hopeless, helpless and not always harmless; or services even the wealthiest can not pay for as individuals.

That brings us to the sort of newspaper editor or columnist that sides with tax strike parties, but runs tear-jerkers about patients who fall foul of refusals to fund treatments, never mind care.

Similarly, the drug firms that quadruple the cost per dose of some medicine out of commercial wilfulness as last year or the contractors who mutually rig tenders to take turns at the trough of public funds.

When I was a councillor, I would be careful to tell a constituent with a problem that I was not promising anything before I said I would look into their matter. Sometimes I could do nothing because the rules had been drawn by restricted budgets.

I twice got something done by pointing to how much it would cost in court if our gallant maintenance squad was not sent to prevent the accident pronto.

Politicians represent the public, but they also are representative of whom the public are.

If you do not think they are up to it, do better. Join a party, come canvassing, meet Honest Joe Public's 57 Varieties of saying "no thanks".

Frank Adam

Hartley Avenue

Prestwich