Letter: Britain's secret government exposed

SO MUCH political journalism these days is little more than a chronicle of Westminster personalities and their jaundiced trivia, that it was heartening to read a solid piece of political investigation ('What happened to democracy?', 28 March). Understanding the draconian nature of the state in the 1990s, with its consumerist face and pliant media, has never been more urgent. In identifying the secret government run by unaccountable quangos, your reporters described succinctly what is known but seldom spoken about: that Britain has become, in effect, a one-party state steered not merely by the great and good but by powerful committees of the far right.

The power given to these unelected groups - such as the wholly sectarian Schools Examination and Assessment Council - is the concealed price of Thatcherism. All the nonsense about a 'free' market has served to disguise the essence of Thatcher ideology: that of decreased freedom and democracy centralised behind a supermarket facade.

I think people are becoming aware of this insidious coup d'etat and equally aware that the trade unions representing railway workers, miners and other public employees have become the only political opposition - the Labour Party having become a coalition partner of the Government in all but name. Perhaps those of your readers touched by the viciousness of this 'market' recession and of the economic warfare being waged against millions of people might now join forces with the only democratic resistance left.

John Pilger

London SW4