I write once again, with a smile, at some of the letters from Conservative councillors, with regard to the sale of the Forest. Since before Christmas some of them have been happy to accuse me of political posturing and point scoring.

I do not know what one would call this concerted effort by them to rally around their beleaguered MP, Mark Harper, with a rash of letters. Well, in my book, I would call this political posturing and point scoring!

Mind you, watching the debate in the House of Commons on Wednesday, February 2, I think it will take more than a few letters saying how Mark is a man of integrity to convince the people of the Forest of this very point.

I do not know if our MP has any integrity left, for while Conservative MP Dr Julian Lewis made an impassioned plea against his Government for the people of his constituency The New Forest East, our Mark Harper was nowhere to be seen.

Another Forest of Dean district Conservative councillor wrote, and I quote: "I believe Mark Harper has been right all along and come out stronger from the ordeal. We need Mark to fight our corner in the Commons."

Well, can I ask where he was in this debate because I never saw him! He was certainly not fighting the corner of us here in the Forest when he voted against the motion for a rethink on the sale of public forests.

Another letter writer talked of hysteria! Well there is no hysteria, this is just a Forester's way of saying we do not want a charity or trust to run our woodland; we are more than happy with it just the way it is run by the Forestry Commission. Charities and trusts have a habit of going under just when you need them most.

According to the Commons debate the Government will pay charities to run the Forest in the beginning. The obvious question is so why bother to do this in the first place? Oh, and while we are at it, just who's manifesto was this in because, a bit like Mark Harper's exciting part in the debate, I again never saw it.

John Woodcock, MP for Barrow in Furness, tells us that at Grisedale Forest a large protest rally was held on Sunday, January 30 and just like Speech House with people from all political parties. A call went out from this rally for a national referendum.

I believe there should be a national referendum on such an important issue. If these Conservative councillors want to get their MP some integrity back, then never mind the silly letters, get him to call for such a referendum. It just might do the trick. If not then, alternatively, find him a safe seat.

­– Graham Morgan, (born in the Hundred, bred on the Monkey Tump).