I went to the Wells City Council meeting last Thursday 26th September, as any member of the public is entitled to do – please go if you haven't: it is informative, and councillors are obviously discussing issues which affect us all.

A few things stood out for me and, although some may have been previously discussed, it's worth bringing them back for an airing and hopefully instigating some changes.

Firstly, as it takes place at the beginning of the session, there is the subject of prayers, Christian prayers.

According to the annual British Social Attitudes Survey of 2019, 52 per cent of the British population proclaim no faith at all – not Christian, Hindu, Muslim, or any of the main religions.

The faith of this majority, is, hopefully, in humanity; that as a collective entity we can be kind, charitable, tolerant to each other, in the here and now.

And yet the Wells City Council meetings begin with a lengthy Christian prayer, at which some councillors feel they have to remove themselves.

In the present political climate of dispute, antagonism, bullying and disrespect, wouldn't it be far more inclusive to begin the meeting with either a minute's silence, for personal reflection, or to let each councillor in turn choose a positive affirmation which they find uplifting and worth sharing?

I can hear people saying, but we've always done this, it's tradition, and of course the traditional aspects can be maintained at more formal meetings, such as the mayor making ceremony.

Ancient tradition, cumbersome and outdated, doesn't make it right or fit for the present make up of British, or even, Wells, society.

I couldn't fail to notice the constant bobbing up and down of councillors when they spoke, sometimes simply to give a one word or a single sentence contribution.

This was presumably designed to give way to the speaker, to give him or her the floor. What it does do in fact is bring an air of pantomime to the proceedings, and when the councillor in question forgets and feels an apology is in order, makes him/her look foolish and incompetent, neither of which is helpful nor fair.

Clearly when someone is speaking at some length, the act of standing up aids clarity and transparency, but otherwise it really is not necessary, and for some councillors, appears physically demanding.

And does each councillor really need to be addressed by the full title, Councillor? Every time they speak?

Their name card sits before them, there are fewer than 20 around a table and we can all see who is speaking, including the minute taker.

A first name would give so much more warmth, and would speed up the proceedings, adding efficiency and removing theatricality, surely beneficial to the meeting as a whole?

Another couple of points: the report by PC Danny Williams, his last for this period of office, was a breath of fresh air.

He was relaxed, humorous, but reassuring. Job very well done, in so many ways.

And to finish, I still find it astonishing and deeply disturbing that councillors are professing not to know, or seemingly to care about the hugely important question of climate change.

It is our generation that, in this privileged part of the world, has reaped the benefit of cheap housing, education, travel, job availability.

It is up to all of us to find out about what we can do to combat the looming disaster, to put what pressure we have in both our private and public lives, and to show some respect for the young people who are doing what they can to have a world worth living in.