LETTER: Chancellor to blame for this economic mess

In his column of December 2nd, Mr Stephenson’s “From the House” epistle was very much a “follow the leader” echo from Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s autumn statement earlier in the week.

Some old platitudes were trotted out. “Britain has the will to live within its means”, “we are committed to taking Britain safely through the storm”. Great news!

Mr Stephenson, as expected, was only saying what his millionaire boss of Number 11 would have us believe.

Not a word in “From the House” about the million or so young people who face the future with fear and trepidation. Not a mention of the three million or so of the notion on the unemployment scrap heap.

The last Labour Government, for all its faults, is not to blame for the present malaise. Nor is the Eurozone crisis. We were deeply embroiled in murky financial waters before that erupted.

No, independent economists lay the blame on the Chancellor and his draconian policies. Mr Stephenson was so slavishly involved in following the party line on the economy that he couldn’t find a word to say about millions of people protesting about their pensions.

Had they the right to make their feelings known so passionately? Does our MP think that their case had any real merit? Does he think that to call the clearly successful national protest “a damp squib” was the wisest thing his big boss at Number 10 - even him - has ever said?

ERIC GREENWOOD

Beaufort Street, Nelson