IT looks as if North Durham Conservative parliamentary candidate David Skelton doesn’t get out much (HAS, Jan 8). Has he not noticed what is going on?

It is now accepted by most commentators that the massive cuts in industry in the Eighties, and the rapid way they were done, produced considerable social damage. One side-effect, as suggested by a recent Cambridge University report, was a rise in single-parent families because men couldn’t get a job. There was bad health because of depression and educational underachievement because there did not seem much point in training for anything.

The cuts were implemented with little thought for the consequences, and with little immediate help for those affected. It took government and local authorities some time to deal with the casualties and rebuild communities.

These initiatives took time, but are now paying off. Where I live we have a new college, new school and are about to have a new health centre.

On a recent visit my mother commented on how much the North-East had changed, and how new things looked.

Communities seem to be getting going again, thanks mainly to Labour councils and a Labour government.

Unfortunately, the Tories have what the police call “previous”. I doubt if this region’s electorate will trust them again.

David Taylor-Gooby, Peterlee, Co Durham.