The Yes campaign has successfully convinced me to vote No. It has become clear in its desperation to promote a Yes vote it is not worthy of the trust it seeks.

Like most people, I vote for my selected councillor to represent the people of my ward.

I do not vote for him or her to blindly follow party policy or, indeed, to be by-passed or ignored.

We have already seen the dangers in the present system when a minority cabinet makes the decisions and ignores or pays lip-service to everyone else.

A minority of one doesn't bear thinking about.

As for corruption, we just have to look over the Channel, where the president of France is under investigation for corruption during his time as mayor of Paris.

This is but one of dozens of cases, most of which sadly only come to light after the culprit has left office.

The self-serving, self-promoting group that makes up the Yes campaign does not deserve the support of the public.

In Brighton and Hove, let us have an open and democratic system of local government with decisions taken by those elected by us all. Let us have open and honest debate before decisions are made. No more sham consultations.

No more decisions made before meetings behind closed doors by a select group.

No more fiascos like the King Alfred Centre, the rubbish contract or the Aquarium Terraces leaving lots of unanswered questions.

-Clive E Kingan, Islingword Place, Brighton