RECENT articles and letters in The Argus have called for changes in the British electoral system.

Politics in this country are confrontational. We have opposition for the sake of opposition.

Any government policy is automatically challenged by its opponents.

The current turmoil regarding Brexit is typical of this attitude.

Many in the Labour Party, including their leader, are committed Eurosceptics.

Yet the actions of these people are simply to try and cause maximum friction in the Conservative party.

The wellbeing of our nation is secondary. If proportional representation was introduced in this country every issue would result in the same chaos we now experience regarding Europe.

An incoming government’s first priority is to stay in power. This means we would see uneasy coalitions between different parties.

Even the Conservatives and their traditional Irish Unionist allies have a difficult relationship.

In 2010 the Conservatives won the election without an overall majority. The Liberal Democrats found themselves in an awkward position.

The result of the election meant that the only party capable of forming a government was the Tories.

Once in office they realised that government is about action. The Lib/Dems found that reality meant compromise and many promises had to be abandoned.

Ironically, at their insistence they dropped one of the own pledges... a referendum on Britain’s EU membership.

Since 2015, this party has pledged that they will never again enter into coalition with the Conservatives.

This means that their only potential partner is Labour. Therefore a vote for the Lib Dems is a vote for Labour.

The Labour Party appears to be courting a relationship with the Scottish Nationalists (SNP).

Such an action would be fraught with danger.

Part of the SNP demands would be a further referendum on Scottish independence. If Scotland voted to leave the United Kingdom the governing Labour/SDP coalition would lose its majority at a stroke and would fall.

Proportional representation works in Germany. But that nation’s political attitudes are different to ours. The politicians are more co-operative.

In Italy, the average life expectancy of a government is roughly a year. In Israel, which operates a pure PR system, it invariably means hardline parties block any changes.

The British electoral system works. It needs updating from time to time... the boundary commission usually performs this. But generally first past the post delivers strong government which is very important.

Richard J Szypulski,

Lavender Street, Brighton