I am writing in response to John Brown's letter last week, regarding MP Bill Cash. Bill Cash is open about his religious beliefs, especially in his voting record.

A few months ago I wrote to Mr Cash, pictured, on behalf of the youth of the Staffordshire Moorlands and the UK Youth Parliament, requesting him to vote against the proposal of removing a clause that outlaws homophobic hate speech. He voted to remove it. In a meeting a week later with him, I asked him why he voted to remove the clause. After 10 minutes of talking about Europe, I was told it was because of his religious beliefs.

In a time when religion in politics itself is called into question, it is up to the voters to choose the candidate that reflects their beliefs. Both religion and politics are about making choices, what you believe, where you stand, and how you act upon issues. For example, we can see how Bill Cash responds with his religious believes in his voting record; voting against gay rights, against the smoking ban, against the hunting ban and for replacing nuclear weapons, and for the Iraq war. The Stone constituency elected Bill Cash to represent people, not his religion. I don't think anyone can pretend that those votes are the views of Cheadle.

Sam Hale.

Staffordshire Moorlands representative – UK Youth Parliament.