THIS coalition Government doesn’t seem to realise that running the nation’s economy isn’t a game. It may not realise it, but its spending review puts ideology before the serious business of this nation’s welfare.

I have seen this before from the Tories when I was made redundant in Essex in 1992 with £20,000 negative equity on my mortgage.

In the late Eighties, the Conservative government kept interest rates lower than they should have been to boost the economy. House prices soared, and first-time buyers like myself had to take out a large mortgage in order to buy.

The government realised it had made a mistake, and more than doubled interest rates, causing a recession. House prices plummeted in the South, causing negative equity for the masses who bought when interest rates were low.

Mortgage repayments more than doubled, leaving people with large mortgages unable to pay which wasn’t the case when they bought; others couldn’t repay their mortgages because they lost their jobs in the recession.

So what did the government do to help people avoid repossession? Nothing, so we had record repossessions caused by the government’s mess.

I have no confidence that the coalition’s performance will be any different to this.

Jeremy Whiting, Great Lumley, Chester-le-Street, Co Durham.