LABOUR once boogied to the song Things Can Only Get Better, Lib Dem pop sensation Nick Clegg recently released a cheesy I’m sorry remix but the Conservatives have a more cultured taste in music. They like opera.

Chancellor George Osborne, Education Secretary Michael Gove and Culture Minister Ed Vazey recently bunked off ministerial duties to catch the second part of Wagner’s six-hour lung-fest Der Ring Des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelungen) at the Royal Opera House in London (Echo, Sept 28).

When the Chancellor should have been working hard trying to save Britain a few tenners, he opted for an evening watching tenors instead.

As part of Wagner’s Ring Cycle of operas, this trio of millionaires abandoned their workplace and got on their bikes in the same week Andrew Mitchell, the Tory chief whip who is accused of swearing at a policeman, was told to get off his. As for getting their priorities right, this trio of work shy freeloaders paid nothing for their seats or hospitality valued at around £175 each.

Stephen Dixon, Redcar.