I AGREE with Susan Murray (October 30) regarding her letter concerning the police. What I would like to add is the money and manpower employed on unnecessary policing.
Recently an anti-fascist demonstration was policed at Newport at a cost of £100,000 of public money. The main objection seems to be that a Church was being turned into a Mosque, and a demonstration was being planned by the Welsh Defence League. The change-over was obviously because the Church was poorly attended and a Mosque was needed. In the end the planned demonstration did not even take place but the anti-facist demonstration did.
The demonstration against Nick Griffin appearing on Question Time was another example in which three policemen ended up in hospital, one of them seriously injured. I watched the programme and was extremely disappointed and ended up dropping off to sleep.
Nationalist parties and fringe parties often draw attention to the problems which the mainstream parties have missed. In this case it is immigration issues and it is up to the Labour Party to correct these problems.
The ballot box is supposed to be secret and people will always vote for the party of their choice. I don't think these demonstrations serve any purpose except to create problems and the police should be doing the job for which they are paid.
So far we have had The National Front, The British National Party and now The Welsh Defence League. Isn't it time we had a break?
Ruth Parcell, Bulwark, Chepstow