I AGREE with Rob Merrick’s column, headed “Coming out as Thatcher in trousers” (Echo, Oct 15), that David Cameron’s attempt to blame the Government for every problem, especially the global financial crisis, is completely wrong.

“Big government” saved the country from complete financial meltdown. If the Government had not intervened several major banks would have gone under – ATMs would have shut down with savings frozen and bills and wages not paid.

Almost certainly there would have been panic runs on those banks still open, followed by panic buying at the supermarkets.

The long-term effects do not bear thinking about (this was as a result of the failure of free market private capitalist markets by the way).

Not to mention this in his recent party conference speech at Manchester means Mr Cameron is economically illiterate or totally dishonest.

Many respected economists believe that if the Tories gain power and carry out their massive public spending cuts before the return of substantial and sustained economic growth it would be economically and socially disastrous.

The media and the public have been fooled by Tory propaganda.

Read what Will Hutton, David Blanchflower and William Keegan, among others, have to say.

I am no apologist for New Labour, but Mr Cameron’s Tories would be a disaster for most people in this country.

Paul Haworth, Witton-le-Wear, Bishop Auckland.

FOR the first time I feel compelled to respond to Christopher Wardell’s stunning naivety following his letter about the Conservatives and the next General Election (HAS, Oct 14).

The freeze on pay rises the Conservatives propose does not apply to the binman, etc, but the three tiers of “management”

behind him.

Incapacity benefit will be stopped for those diagnosed with lead-swinging and they will be shifted on to some other stream of benefit which does not automatically open the door to all the peripheral benefits that come with the diagnosis of “disability”.

The country is bust and, as usual, the Conservatives will have to perform the hard task of getting it back on its feet.

Once this is achieved you can then, once again, dream of socialism/communism/utopia.

Call it what you will, it’s a nice ideal, but that is all it is.

Ken Richardson, Northallerton, North Yorkshire.