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THE election may be over but politicians still jostle to be the coolest kids on the block, courting popularity like the loner in the playground who’ll do anything to make friends.

It feels like some parties alter their appearance, language and ideas almost daily to fit in with the in-crowd. Why not go away, have a chat with your mates, and come back when you’re ready to tell us what you really believe in? Not what you think we want you to say. No rush.

When things work, please stop tampering with them. We are tired of all parties scrapping for the middle ground and endless ‘new ideas’ to improve the things we treasure, the NHS and education in particular, which worked pretty well for decades.

Instead, we’d love to hear you addressing the new 21st century pressures – funding vital drugs, better social care and research for dementia – as the elderly population increases and more people of all ages are diagnosed with cancer and other lifethreatening conditions.

Any party that sorts out tax evasion and corruption in banking has my vote. Not much mention of it during the election campaign, was there? And now we hear that rogue traders at banks were quietly working on yet another scam.

It’s easy to bash away at schools and hospitals, blaming them for everything, but no-one stops the bankers. Fines are ludicrous as they just squeeze us to pay for them.

Talking of ludicrous, thank you for sharing your embarrassing petrol station tales. After telling you about my bank card debacle (Bm@il May 13) when my transaction didn’t go through, I’ve heard from people who genuinely forget to pay for fuel and others who filled up before realising they hadn’t got their cards with them.

Feeling much better after your consoling anecdotes, I was reduced again to grumbledom when I popped into Costa for a sandwich.

Not having eaten meat for 25 years I was miffed that all the cheese and egg varieties had ham or bacon added.

Running out of car parking time, I tried Caffé Nero – the same! Ok, maybe there had been a rush on the non-meat variety, but it does get my goat (no!) that at least cheese can’t be left alone with pickle or salad.

It didn’t help when I returned home to discover an email telling me it was Vegetarian Week. I blame the politicians. Email bmailbarbara@gmail. com