 David Cameron's folly in giving power to the people  I fear that in his enthusiasm for moving "state power" to the "people", David Cameron has not thought through the implications and consequences ("Please explain your true values, Mr Cameron", Leader comment, last week). Surely, assessments and decisions will come to be made by special-interest groups.  The people likely to become involved will probably have political, financial or religious reasons to be interested. They will not be representative of communities and will not be answerable to anyone. Yes, there will be a few altruistic people involved, but this is not the way to get decisions made that are fair and in the interests of the whole community. Local councils should surely retain a dominant decision-making role.  John Chubb  Cheltenham  Europe's poor will go hungry  The UK government is expected to vote with Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Sweden to block some euros 480m intended to feed Europe's poorest through the European Programme of Food aid for the Most Deprived Persons. I'm surprised this initiative wasn't covered in Jay Rayner's article ("Sharp rise in demand for handouts of free food", News, last week). The programme distributes 400,000 tonnes of food in 20 states. Surely its expected demise must worry those providing basic food handouts in the UK?  Robin Swaddling  Blaenavon, Gwent  Obviously Jay Rayner sees nothing bizarre, or even repellent, in going from piously handing out food to the poverty-stricken in Leicester to spending (no doubt on expenses) ? 110 for two on a meal in the West End (both in the same issue of the Observer last week). and you seem to see nothing contradictory in this either. Odd, that.  ann Keith  Cambridge  Give George Monbiot a break  What a miserly response from Catherine Bennett to George Monbiot's "register of journalists' interests" ("Even if you show me yours, I'm not showing you mine", Comment, last week). I have looked at Monbiot's declaration of interests on his website. The salary he declares for the words he produces has made me weigh his words more carefully when I read them. It is an excellent way of engaging the readership and letting them know the cost of the words they read. Your newspaper could claim the ethical and moral high ground if the editor and Bennett followed suit.  Terence Henderson  Camberley, Surrey  Where's the shadow cabinet?  William Keegan notes in his column last week: "It is the conventional practice now in the UK for the Conservatives, their supportive press and the general public to blame Gordon Brown for all our ills." However, he goes on to point out: "It was not just New Labour which put its faith in tax revenue from the City of London", but that the Tories were also "up to their necks in the policy of deregulation and the view that the City was the  