I HAVE have never met Mark Harper personally but he strikes me as a pleasant, likable man, if not particularly courageous. However, likable and pleasant are qualities we want in our close friends. The quality we most value in an MP is courage.

An MP's role is to represent the interests of the constituency in Westminster. A particularly challenging role for an MP who is also a member of the party in office. MPs in other parties can confidently oppose the Government on every turn and earn Brownie points from their party leaders as well as their constituents. But someone in Mr Harper's position must run the gauntlet of opposing his party leader in order to represent the interests of his constituents in this instance. The sale of Forest land is in the interests of the Government but opposes the interests of Forest constituents.

Mr Harper effectively has two masters: The constituents who, having voted him in, have to wait four years before they can vote him out and his party leader, who can sack him tomorrow. For someone who lacks the courage to challenge his boss, it's a no-brainer but for someone with courage and integrity, it can be a difficult task.

Lots of people have difficult jobs and usually (though certainly not always), the salary reflects that. In Mr Harper's case, the salary certainly does reflect the difficulty of the task that he was voted in to do. Sadly, he chooses not to do it and settles for the soft option of obediently doing his party leader's bidding. He is not our MP, he is Westminster's. He has betrayed us.

Now that we know where we stand, I hope we remember this at the next election. Instead of voting for a pleasant smile, let's try something really outlandish, like voting for an effective MP with our interests at heart.

– Ron Tocknell, Lydney.