Letter: PR is good business

Letter:

PR is good business

Sir: The Director General of the Institute of Directors instructing the nation on democracy (letter, 19 May) is quite something. Proportional representation combats the likelihood of elective dictatorships shoving ill-advised Bills through the House against other parties for whom around 60 per cent of the electorate voted.

Does the IoD really believe the UK's growth levels since circa 1900 have been world-beating under first-past-the-post? Can he not name other countries that have achieved a high level of social harmony combined with good economic growth yet have proportional representation and indeed federal (ie regional) systems?

What has big business has ever done to extend rather than restrain democracy? Can anyone name one corporation that has given even 0.1 per cent of its community spend, except possibly BT, to the advance of women in democracy, for example?

TIM SYMONDS

Executive Director

Project Parity

London W1