I READ with amazement that Kennet District Council have billed Marlborough's 800th anniversary organisers £8,700 for road closures (Gazette, March 4).

The celebrations by the community will reflect the town and its fascinating history. The 800th anniversary of King John's charter is a seminal moment and one worthy of commemoration. The 1204 charter granted the Wednesday and Saturday markets and guaranteed "liberties and free customs" to "our burgess of Marlborough and their heirs". It anticipated the Magna Carta of 1215, which granted rights and liberties to Englishmen. With King John in the national curriculum and the importance of Magna Carta in our supposed age of democracy, there are huge educational, social and cultural benefits here. Surely Kennet must see that the celebrations are very special and relent on this bill: or do they wish to appear as Philistines pouring cold water on Marlborough's rich past?

Victorian historians gave King John a bad press. The image of Magna Carta being grudgingly given by a cornered tyrant still remains. As the guarantee of our liberties and first step on the road to democracy it retains significance.

With council tax increasing at rates way above inflation and attempts to impose unpopular Sunday parking charges, a similarity begins to appear with the traditional "Bad King John" of Robin Hood fame, forever putting up taxes, and Kennet District Council.

With MPs awarding themselves huge pay rises and recent involvement in a war with little public backing and without a UN mandate, it can be argued that democracy is under threat. The business with Iraq has to be paid for by the taxpayer. Similarly, King John made himself unpopular by fighting expensive wars in France paid for by his barons. Only by granting Magna Carta was John able to regain their support. Perhaps it is time for a 21st century Magna Carta to rejuvenate our flagging democracy and protect us from excessive tax increases.

NICK BAXTER

Calne