Letter: Government takes, but does not give

Sir: In his cheap jibes at the poor, single parents and other vulnerable members of the community, Peter Lilley reveals his attitudes very clearly.

Some things never change. A few years ago, at another Conservative Party conference, we heard Norman Tebbit tell the unemployed to 'get on their bikes'.

It was W. B. Yeats who referred to monumental inhumanity as a sort of sickness of the spirit. People such as Mr Lilley have no experience of life; it is all theory for them - but then, I do not expect the rich to care for those who are less fortunate in life.

Yours faithfully,

PAUL SMITHERMAN

Southsea, Hampshire

7 October