All anybody did when Tony Blair was in Government was complain. Now you all have exactly the opposite of Mr Blair, you are still moaning.

Make up your mind

Joan Davis, London, United Kingdom

£230 is a months rent for me and more than I earn in a week. Your as out of touch as Gordon Brown.

David, Gloucester, UK

John Reynolds, Kettering: If you read your own quotation of Alice Miles you will see that she in fact referred to £230 per year, not per week. On a weekly basis that is equivalent to 4.42 per week, which is indeed not a huge amount.

Paddy Murphy, London,

A £230 tax increase is easily defended? Well maybe that is the case, but this government has done NOTHING to explain it, perhaps you can Alice?. It has tried to pretend that there is no problem at all. Tax increases, however small, on some of the lowest earners in this country are truly outrageous. For someone earning minimum wage thats the equivalent of one weeks salary. So one more week working for this government and not for yourself!!

This government has taken the cynical view that many of those affected will be young men and women - the least likely section of our society that will vote to do anything about it.

Labour supporting the poor - don't make me laugh!!

Jason Carpenter, London, UK

You say "The amounts lost by childless low earners in this week's tax changes are relatively small - about £230 a year at most - and relatively easily defended." This may be a small amount of money to you Alice Miles but it's £20 per week and could make a lot of difference to a lot of low earners. How dare you say it's a small amount

John Reynolds, Kettering, Northants

£230 is one weeks wages for me. Perhaps since you can afford one weeks wages you could send them to me .I sorely need the money as I was foolish enough to get breast cancer in 2004 and had to claim Incapacity benefit for 6 months. I'm still paying the money back through higher income tax.This extra tax is a slap in the face for us lower paid workers. Especially since ,as a Civil servant, I am not to have a cost of living raise either.

I know who Im definitely NOT voting for in May

bobby, derby, uk

it's hard to believe that the abolition of the 10p tax band has caused such a fuss or that people are only now seeing how little there is to brown. not because the tax change won't hurt, but because anyone who watched what he did as chancellor knew that his policies were not prudent or sensible, no matter how many times he said they were (see various comments by the economist even when he was publicly viewed as a great chancellor and britain's economy as exemplary) and his taxes have hit everyone, but particuarly the poor.

the state has grown enormously and provided little in the way of efficiency or improvement in service. the nhs, schools, etc are a shambles. given the focus of this government on these services, it is disgraceful that they are so poor.

sadly, the tories don't offer much. we need root and branch reform and far smaller government. we should be paying far less tax, because we're getting bugger all for it.

where have you been for 10 years, smug alice?

jem, london, uk

Alice Miles makes the same mistake as the government with respect to the tax increase for the very poorest. At low levels of income, every penny counts, and to have £230 taken off you while the vastly better off pay less tax is insulting. You also do not mention the penal levels of taxation on the poor as they try to earn more / work more hours to improve their lot: the marginal rate can hit 70% as the ludicrously complex sytem of tax and credits takes effect - hardly an incentive to work more, if at all. Like many readers (across the political spectrum) of newspaper blogs, I am consumed by a seething fury at the toxic mix of smugness, callousness, complacency, incompetence, corruption and stupidity of our new ruling class. You shouldn't waste time trying to shore up Brown. Out here on the street, New Labour have long since lost the next election. The tax attack on the poor simply emphasises their unfitness to govern.

Rod Jones, Cardiff, Britain

We have to realise that both Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling are really, really ignorant of tax policy and, of course, won't listen. If this seems surprising, just think of the tax credits system. Nobody with any intellectual grasp of taxation would have introduced it.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

In the dying days of the Major government, I read a press release simultaneously seeking charity and business involvement in delivery of healthcare. Similar loss of plot, but sadly this is all a symptom of the rise of the state and the decline of true government seen all across Europe. Given the left-wing love affair with the state, it is going to be well nigh impossible for the post-Brown Labour Party to reconstruct itself as a genuinely popular party.

Chris Gillibrand, Brussels , Belgium

a loss of £230 pounds a year is a lot of money when you struggle to make ends meet and lets not forget it is an estimate and is likely to be much more than that, if Alice wouldnt miss that loss of money then maybe she could donate to charity. i think it is scandalous that a so called socialist party lines its own pockets and awards expenses to its mps whilst allowing our pensioners and children and other folk to live in poverty.

alex, london,

"The amounts lost by childless low earners in this week's tax changes are relatively small - about £230 a year at most - and relatively easily defended. "

Alice - Its all relative. £230 may not be much to you (and me for that matter), but for the people worst affected by these tax changes, it is a hell of a lot of money. Don't forget that these tax hikes are compunded by personal inflation rates being much higher than the CPI (Think mortgages, petrol and food).

Ian Skinner, Manchester, UK

Who is Brown? He's the man who gave us the police state, in which innocent people are constantly photographed and may even have their DNA taken by force. He's the man who removed the freedom to vote on a European Constitution which affects us all. He the man who....................... etc, etc. I know of no person who considers the last ten years of Government to have been anything other than a disaster for the Country in terms of essential personal freedoms. On a personal basis, it is also clear that Brown is unsuitable as a leader: people vote for personal qualities with policies a second-order factor. As a miserable, dour charmless individual he cannot compete with Cameron. Nor has Labour the advantage of 'evidenced' competence at this stage. Quite the opposite, in fact.
The political cycle has started to swing back towards personal freedom and individual responsibility.

Chris Kay, Swindon, UK

So who is going to succeed Brown as Labour Leader? With Tony Blair in the job for all those years there was no question as to who his successor would be. But now that Blair's successor is finally in Number Ten, there isn't a single member of the cabinet one could point to as being the obvious successor to Brown. I'm inclined to suggest Jack Straw as the least worst option, even though he doesn't seem to show any ambition to be PM.

K Philips, London, UK

Brown is sort of Mr Bean of the political world. drifting from one poor discion to another. But then if we look at Cameron and Clegg they really do offer much in the way of leadership.

Clive, Dartford, Kent

I am sure that Labour will get an absolute trouncing in the May elections, as it is the first time that the electorate will have the opportunity to exercise their democratic verdict on the Prime Minister unelect Gordon Brown. He obtained this position from a closed door agreement with Blair more than 10 years ago, and did not have the confidence to stand for election on his own terms. He governs the UK with all the misplaced zeal of a Presbyterian missionary with total self- belief and no idea of the life or needs of the people he sets out to "help". For all the high taxation and spending not a great deal has been achieved, at the cost of a fragmented society.

Mac, Barcelona, Spain

Dear Alice,you state in your comment "The amounts lost by childless low earners in this week's tax changes are relatively small-about £230 a year at most- and relatively easily defended".I beg to differ Alice,£230 to a low earner is a considerable amount ,it may pay for your working lunches for a week but to a low earner it is a months groceries .Please think before being so flippant .As regards to Mr Brown he will get his just reward next month at the council elections....pity it wasn't a general election.

Kenneth O'Boyle, Perth, Perthshire

The reduction of the tax rate to 20% and the abolition of the 10p tax band was an unnecessary and politically disasterous decision which is likely to cost the party many votes from its core supporters, while gaining nothing from those who benefitted. Wait till the increases in car tax feed through next year for another disaster. Brown's instincts as a politician seem to be deeply flawed.

Philip, Wellingborough, UK

Perhaps they public do know who Gordon Brown is, those over 45 with a memory should. He is the unacceptable face of Tony Blair... in other words New Labour is Old Tax and Spend Labour after all.

John Bowman, Sarlat, France

Do not warrant the rebellion? Say, Alice, if you have £230 spare, send it to me! I could make good use of it. The fact is, Labour is supposed to support the poor, not benefit the rich. It is unacceptable for around 5.3 million lower-paid workers to be worse off, but the better-paid to gain. The rich-poor divide in Britain is already a chasm, not far different from what it was in Victorian times, so there is little wonder that the hoi polloi seek to drown their sorrows in cheap supermarket booze and take their anger out on the middle classes at every possible opportunity.

Mike Mitchell, Spalding, England

"Despite recognising that Mr Cameron has no solid alternative to offer"
Really? What exactly was on offer pre-1997 from New Labour?

I recall lots of sharp suits, smiles and warm words but precious little else. It was enough to stand to one side, commitment free and watch the Tories self-destruct in a sludge of corruption and incompetence.

Presumably Cameron needs only to follow that same strategy and Buggins Brown and the other clowns from Scotland will do the rest, as they are currently doing so well for all to see.

m collins, Leeds,

......The country is crying out for change, but Cameron and Clegg will not provide what is truly required. Doreen, Leominster,

I could not agree more Indeed all contributors to date are pretty much on target and I concur with them.

Mr Bean has long outstayed his welcome. As an example, he became circa PM August 2007, since then Sept 2007 £1 = €1.47 to 9 April 2008 £1 = €1.25; a 15% drop in sterling value.

OR MAY BE HAVING RAILROADED US INTO U.S.E.U. HE IS NO PREPARING TO RAILROAD US INTO THE EURO AS WELL. Which would no doubt please N. Clegg and K. Clarke

M. Cawdery, Portadown, Co. UK, EU.

Sorry Alice - but the loss of £240 cannot be "easily defended" I am on a fixed income having etied early on illhealth gounds. I have a disabled wife and am under 65 - so no pension . I lose about £20 a week - apparently to pay for reducing child povety according to the Govt and to help fund an income tax reduction,

I am all for reducing child poverty but why should the poorest bear the brunt of doing that? In fact £20 a week actually means a lot to me and my wife Its that naked political calculation shown by Brown that in the end the losers will be outweighed by the winners that destroys any pretence he has to principles that is ruining the guys credibility.I have voted Labou since 1997 - but its Cameon fo me nxt tim without a doubt.

Peter Buss, Canterbury,

Alice Miles says, 'The amounts lost by childless low earners in this week's tax changes are relatively small - about £230 a year at most - and relatively easily defended'.
Not easily defended to me Alice. You clearly speak from the ranks of the slightly smug well-paid. For you it's a night out perhaps, or a few baubles. For me, it's 3% of my annual nett income, half my annual heating (logs) bill, and, in conjunction with increases in council tax and utility charges, it is hard to absorb.
But you are right about Gordon Brown. Tony Blair was sticking his tongue down our throats all the time. Gordon is, er, what, where, who?

Steve, Torrington,

The Scottish are the first to point out they are culturally very different to the English, (I believe in Scottish independence and that North Sea Oil is Scottish)

New Labour has too many Scots in positions of power to even start to really understand how to begin to govern England.

The Scots in the British Government have a lot to say about Zimbabwe and democracy but they don’t appear to have the same concerns for the democratic rights of population of England.

Demaris, Dudley,

There is no doubting PMQ's is becoming like a game of Buzzword-Bingo with Cameron getting a winning line every time he asks Brown a question. However, the PM could become instantly more popular if he did a U turn over the Euro Referendum, and decided to cap the immigration flow. That is before someone decides to Petition H.M. The Queen over the public loss of direct democracy in her realm. She did after all swear to govern according to the laws and customs (which include democracy) of the UK and Dominions, and the PM is her servant..

Robert El-Cid, Hull., East Yorks.,

Sure, Labour is in a wobble, but where are the politicians brave enough to do what is right for the UK. We are drowning in debt, bureaucracy and incompetence and Gordon Brown is impotent because of his past 10 years as Chancellor.
There is a feeling that the State and ordinary citizens are becoming evermore polarised - we now need to stop this rot before we end up with social disobedience on a large scale. I expect many people will abstain from voting and others will make a protest vote against an inept self-serving political establishment.

Steve Marchant, Broadhempston, Uk

It is certainly true that Brown is facing a very strong challenge from the SNP in his own constituency.if he delays the general election until the last minute he merely gives the opposition more time to gain support and oust him as the sitting MP.We then have the prospect of printing T-shirts on election night with ''I stayed up for Brown'' on them, just like Portillo all those years ago.

martin, Dundee, Scotland

Come the real election he may even lose his parliamentary seat to the SNP, as the not-very-United Kingdom reaches breaking point.

Paul, Coventry,

This Labour government, and this unelected Prime Minister, have vastly outstayed their welcome. They must be got rid of as quickly as possible.
I urge everyone to vote BNP whenever possible, particularly in the May local elections.
Even if you lend them your vote on just this one occasion, it will send shockwaves to the main political parties, and will show them just how angry we are. The country is crying out for change, but Cameron and Clegg will not provide what is truly required.

Doreen, Leominster,

Every person is someone's child and most adults are someone's parent.

The saddest thing about this man is the need to wonder whether he could relate to either.

David Williams, Eastnor, England