In his wish to lay all the blame at Labour's door he ignored the international banking crisis and all that it entailed for the world economy. Actually, I think Labour should have been quicker of the mark to reverse some of the deregulation which had been done in the 1980s even though there would have been a chorus of criticism if they had done so. I also think that when it came to it during the crisis, Labour held its nerve and did the right thing to protect many people from the effects. I also believe Labour is prepared to take responsibility for having invested in the public services vital to people's lives which had been wilfully neglected by the Tories over nearly two decades. And there was the longest period of sustained growth since the industrial revolution, low interest rates and more police than ever before. It is telling that in peddling the Conservative talking points that he does, Mr Wiltshire resorts to the most fundamentally untrue claim made by his Tory and Lib Dem colleagues in government. Even their new pet QUANGO the Office of Budget Responsibility admitted that the deficit is lower, not higher, than Labour had been saying and yet they still pretend otherwise. The truth is that most people in this country voted against the sort of damaging and irresponsible cuts proposed at the election by the Conservatives. The Lib Dems certainly campaigned hard against them until the day after the election when a lot of their local supporters were badly let down on this central issue which will unnecessarily damage real people with real lives. Nick Clegg could have chosen not to join this Conservative government. I am not trying to make out Labour got everything right, that's not true, but a great deal was achieved, and is now endangered. Alan Butcher Chairman of Littlehampton Labour Party Cornfield Close, Littlehampton ----------------------------- Click here to return toLittlehampton Gazette news. Where are you? Add your pin to the Gazette's international readers' map by clicking here. Email the Gazette: roger.green@littlehamptongazette.co.uk Want to read this page in French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Urdu or 48 other languages? click here for Google translate.