LIBBY PURVES is a national treasure who should be preserved in aspic for her article on Blair and Brown.

It is high time Gordon Brown took over the Prime Minister’s job. Perhaps then we would have a more open style of government and see less of the distasteful cronyism practised by Blair. I am revolted by the recent appointment to Europe of twice-disgraced Peter Mandelson, by the fiasco of the Dome, by David Blunkett’s continued occupancy of the Home Secretary’s official residence (didn’t the man resign?) — not to mention Campbell (Iago, forsooth?).

Without Brown as an option, I will probably vote for Michael Howard, by default rather than conviction. I’ve endured quite enough of Tony Blair.

Barbara King,
bobking@theshanty.freeserve.co.uk

Keep the new

WHATEVER Blair’s faults he represents new Labour. The hope for new Labour was to get away from the ideology differences between the two main parties. The country did not need radical change. Business needed to be left alone to provide profit and employment with reasonable control and acknowledgement of its importance. Blair understands that, but Brown is old Labour.

Without Blair we will see the regulations pile up, taxes increase, invested wealth that funds business driven away and a policy of spend, spend, spend. Mr Brown would be disastrous. For a sound economy we need Blair or the Tories in charge — not old Labour.

Roger Kendall,
kendall.family@virgin.net

Short memory?

BEFORE Libby Purves gets too carried away with pension top-ups, family credit and education maintenance allowance — all of which are to be welcomed — she has surely not forgotten the disastrous mismanagement of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, the deception and incompetence over the Iraq war, the pensions crisis fuelled by the Chancellor taking £5 billion a year from private pension funds, the apparently uncontrolled spread of MRSA in our hospitals, the continuing parlous state of our railways and ever-worsening traffic congestion. A few top-ups don’t make up for all this.

David Powis,
Inkberrow, Worcestershire

Hiding the mess

I DISAGREE with Libby Purves. Gordon Brown has been an appalling Chancellor. The number of public-sector workers has risen sharply, giving us a much less healthy economy in the longer term — largely because of the intricacies and micro-managing of which Brown is so fond.

He has made enormous spending commitments, and tries to hide as much of them as possible. Major items include public-sector pension liabilities (not accounted for), PPI deals (all done merely to hide the borrowing) and rail debts (implausibly not classified as government debt). Taxes have been raised everywhere. Pensions are a total fiasco, with means testing a major disincentive for the vast majority of people to make personal provision. Increasing taxation on pension funds, together with an increase in statutory obligations, has brought most private final-salary pension schemes to their knees.

Robert Chillcott,
Tonbridge, Kent

The power behind

IS BROWN better than Blair? It is reassuring to know that a man is standing behind the Prime Minister who is capable of getting the actual work done. A figurehead has much less power to act. Were Brown to be prime minister he would be less able to look after the things that really make a difference as he would spend all his time smiling and pressing the flesh. I would rather he keep the economy ticking over and remain where he is.

Philip Reid,
Glasgow

A bogus boom

I CANNOT take seriously Libby Purves’s praise of Gordon Brown. His economic boom is a sham, based on massive public and private borrowing. Unemployment is masked by the huge increase in public sector “workers”, and hiding people in make-work schemes and disability allowance. Your columnist Patrick Hoskings made fun of his “Golden Rule” on February 28.

Our balance of payments deficit is approaching £1 billion a week. The unfunded public-sector pension debt is pushing £700 billion. To top it all, we are running out of oil and gas — all right, not Mr Brown’s fault, but I don’t think building windmills is the answer.

Roy Button,
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

Robbing Peter

A POLITICIAN’S most important job is to be re-elected. As the majority of voters are in receipt of government largesse and subsidies, at a cost to a few, the political parties pander to them to secure their vote; in other words competitive bribery. Indeed the largest beneficiaries are those with mortgages whose interest cost has been subsidised by Mr Brown’s aggressive expansion of the money supply.

Douglas Murray,
d.murray@onetel.net