THE wanton plundering of the public purse by those who were honour and duty bound to be of exemplary behaviour now begs the question: “Are they fit to govern?”

What now of the latest plans to privatise parts of the Royal Mail? This, on the pretext that outside funds are vital for its future. This state-owned firm made a group-wide operating profit of £312m for the year ending this March.

Profit-obsessed speculators must be eagerly awaiting the opportunity to get aboard this gravy train.

Rather than sell off our national assets, committed socialists, like myself, look forward to the day when some really caring and honest government returns to public ownership those essential everyday commodities – gas, electricity, public transport, etc.

We didn’t actually lose them; they were stolen from us.

AW Dunn, Spennymoor Co Durham.