ANDY Rutherford is way off beam with his editorial this week. Elections are not football games. Football games are for entertainment. Elections are much more serious: they are about listening to opposing political parties’ values and goals, and choosing which one to vote for based on the policies you prefer. 

Leaders’ debates on TV are not an opportunity to put the facts coolly.  They are platforms for argument, raising emotion and highlighting personalities. TV producers like them because they pull in a big audience, which, in the case of commercial TV, is good for advertisers. But the clear information that influences decisions that affect the fate of us all cannot be gauged from a good performance on a TV show. 

As for making them compulsory – why should anyone be forced to appear on TV against their will? Romans and circuses spring to mind.

L Morse
Bryn Milwr
Cwmbran