THE responses from Tony Blair and the Queen to the awful London bombings really jarred with me when both talked reverentially about defending our "way of life".

Now, I'm normally proud when our marvellous monarch and our PM speak to the nation after a major terrorist outrage. But their defiant messages to us, in which they both used the "way of life" cliche in reference to retaining British values, just sounded a bit trite and hollow this time.

Like all of our readers, this terrorism left me feeling sick to the core. Our thoughts and prayers go to those poor victims and their families.

But my message to the establishment is don't fob us off with meaningless phrases about our way of life. Anyone living in Britain in 2005 will know this is a country in downward spiral.

Our moral values have degenerated to the point where we are obsessed with watching people have sex with each other on reality TV shows. We live in a society where family values have been eroded to such a point that many children grow up in one parent families never knowing their fathers. A land where marriage is no longer in fashion and casual sex is a virtue. A country where people find it more convenient to live on state benefits rather than work. Where young yobs terrorise communities. Where older yobs go on alcohol-fuelled rampages. Where motoring offences seem to matter to the police more than violent crime.

I could go on and on, but I think I've made my point. Pray for the victims, damn the bombers to hell and hope beyond hope that it never happens again. But please don't do this in the name of a way of life that has degenerated beyond my wildest nightmares.