I'm taken aback by Michael Williams' letter (November 23), in which he attacks the "nanny state" and says Big Brother has arrived.

So smoking in public places is being banned? It kills people and surveys of public opinion say they want it stopped.

A majority of people said they wanted foxhunting banned. Well, the Labour Party said they would do it in two manifestos and they have, against some stiff opposition.

"CCTV cameras monitor our every movement," says Mr Williams. They are there, along with record numbers of police and the new community support officers, to deter crime and alert the emergency services to problems. Is that really a bad thing?

"Speed cameras proliferate," he adds. If cameras on our roads slow drivers down and save just one child's life, they should stay.

I think the only people who are suffering "the loss of long-cherished freedoms" are those who commit crime, drive dangerously on our roads, chase animals to death and harm other people's health with their cigarette smoke.

-Councillor Warren Morgan, Labour, East Brighton ward