THE proposed sale of some of our forests and all their amenities enjoyed by millions of us each year is being touted as a (short-sighted) cost-saving exercise. However, the amount of money is a mere drop in the ocean of our total deficit.

Instead of selling off this crown jewel of the people a simple way would be to reduce the number of MPs to 500 which would conservatively save £19.5m a year.

This would also be greatly increased if Parliament was reorganised and brought kicking and screaming into the 21st Century.

However, I cannot see this ever happening for the benefit of the country because the exclusive “Club of Westminster” is presented as a law unto itself and shows that it is totally immune to the changes it should make to be relevant in this day and age and fit for purpose.

As always, it is easier to cut something enjoyed by the masses rather than that which might affect or upset the cosy and privileged Wesminster life enjoyed by a very small number of pampered people.

M Hawkins, Langley Park, Durham.

DESPITE the concerns of international observers over the UK Government’s fiscal policies, Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne strut the political stage convinced they are right.

Like overgrown schoolboys they treat Parliament as an extension of the Oxford Union or the Old Etonian Debating Society and their smug and self-righteous belief that they were born to govern is nauseous.

Hopefully, the TUC protest on March 26 will be an opportunity for students, health workers, public sector staff, unionists, environmentalists and pensioners to express their opinion vociferously on policies which will have a direct impact on their lives and communities outside the Westminster Village.

Conservative plans to privatise the NHS, the Royal Mail, and promote free schools are true to form and come as no surprise, but their outrageous plans to sell some of the nation’s forests are beyond belief and really are the final straw. It’s enough to make one join the Labour Party.

P Holmes, Barnard Castle, Co Durham.