AS we near the next General Election many people will comment that there is no major difference in the main party policies.

There is a lot of truth in that and I, for one, would even give New Labour the benefit of the doubt if it knew what it was doing.

The main worrying factors about this Government have been its ministers’ incompetence and its lack of integrity.

As a team it has not worked, and to rely on bringing previously disgraced and unelected individuals back into senior positions demonstrates poor judgement and disregard of previous events.

New Labour was only created because “Old” Labour had become unelectable so a new team arrived and the old guard rode on its back – very convenient. Some have made a few bob and conveniently faded away leaving the rest of us to take the consequences.

New Labour is destroying this country with its incompetence and wobble-head approach. Now, Gordon Brown wants to sell our bridges and tunnels as part of a quick fix. A new Nero while Rome burns?

In football terms, if a team is doing badly the manager is the first to go and then his backroom staff.

You don’t keep giving the manager another chance to see if the team can get it right next time.

Steve Hodgson, Darlington.

I WATCHED the Conservatives at their party conference on TV to see what they had to say, as it looks like they will take power in next year’s General Election. It did not take long to realise they are the same as before with their intentions to attack the poor and make them suffer.

If the Tories gain power they intend to stop pay rises for some and kick a number of people off incapacity benefit and force them to work. Where will these jobs come from, as people are struggling to find work now?

Will asylum seekers who claim benefits get the same treatment and stop getting the handouts that attract them to the UK demanding to find employment?

I doubt it.

I was previously confident that Labour would lose the next election, but due to the policies of David Cameron and his rich party colleagues, the Conservatives may have given Gordon Brown a chance to retain power.

If anybody should be persecuted due to the current financial shambles, then it should be the fat cat bankers – not ordinary folk.

Christopher Wardell, Darlington.