NOW the dust has settled after the Chancellor's budget proposals I am not surprised to see that the headline announcements he made in the House are turning out to be not as good as he wants us to believe. Even the major changes in pension annuity arrangements, when studied, will really only benefit the very well off while endangering the financial security of the average, and below-average, wage-earners.

Just four years ago the Conservatives persuaded us to believe that they were the only party capable of running our economy; they were the only ones with the financial understanding and experience to steer our country through the difficult times we found ourselves in after the financial services/banks had almost bankrupted us. Now, with just one year to go before the next election, their actions have done nothing but to set us back both financially and as a society.

Their total commitment to all-out austerity measures and 'savings' instead of some obvious and common-sense investment in our infrastructure, has increased job insecurity; widened our trade deficit; not brought down the country's debt by anything near the amount they said they would; and, through political dogma, they have laid the building blocks to kill off our National Health Service. Even the few straws of good news this Government gratefully grab at are probably the result of the faster, and bigger, market growth in the rest of the world — especially the USA and China where austerity measures come some way after a number of re-investment programmes.

This Government has consistently played the privatisation card when awarding contracts within public services with the resulting loss and writing off of many, many millions of pounds. Can anybody tell me of a private organisation successfully running a public service? (Other than to the advantage of their shareholders of course). Think about the Olympics, the tagging of prisoners, and the out-of-hours doctor services and many others before you answer.

I think of all the damage caused to individuals and families by many of the very nasty cuts made by this Government to the social support budgets. I am particularly thinking of the 'bedroom tax' and the changes to claiming 'incapacity allowance'. While there are many other examples of the nasty face of this Government these two brought untold despair to working families and those trying very hard to lead as normal and useful a life as possible, even when suffering from a disability. Still, it's better than taxing the millionaires, or preventing big city bonuses being paid to people who were very much 'in charge' when the financial world fell in on us. Isn't it?

If this Government attempts to make the same 'The economy is safe with us' argument in 12 months time, they will have to start off by saying how sorry they are for the mess they have caused this time.

Bryan Podmore

Redmoor Close

Tavistock