THE future for Britain looks very bleak. Whichever government gets in next time, I don't know how they will cope.

Ever since Labour came to power, when they took over a strong economy, they abused it from day one, they started to make cutbacks and we went further into Europe, because Tony Blair said he knew what was best for Britain and the British people.

Our contributions to the EU increased and by the middle of their term in office it had risen to £41 million a day. No country can afford that sort of money going out.

To counteract this, he and Gordon Brown cut back so hard on all our services it made it almost impossible to function.

They cut back on the fire service, the ambulance service, the police force, even down to local councils as to how much they allowed them from the government purse, so the councils had to put up council tax to try to recoup money lost to them.

So that made it much harder for everyone, especially pensioners who were on a fixed income.

But still it wasn't enough – they had to find more money for their own members, so gave themselves a £5,000-a-year rise, which brought their salary up to £60,000 a year, that was apart from their expenses, which at that time was £172,000 a year each, don't forget. But just in case that wasn't enough, they were given another £24,000 a year to be drawn from to cover mortgages on their second homes, which by now everyone knows how they abused.

It didn't stop there. Our armed forces didn't get off scot-free: the Navy has had cuts, and to get rid of Trident would mean there was no deterrent.

Also one of out best military air craft, the Harrier jet, which was to be phased out in 2016, the only aircraft apart from the helicopter that needs no runway and can be used right up close to the front line where a pilot can see a fuel tanker from the air and land right next to it to be rearmed, refuelled and away. It doesn't have to go back hundreds of miles to get to a runway.

Still they are cutting back. Devonport Dockyard is under attack by the very people who should be making sure the South West approaches are safe, but once gone will never return.

With their new reshuffle, let's hope someone now has the brains and is not afraid to use them in the defence of this country. It cannot be left to ordinary MPs.

I could go on about the economy being at its lowest since Labour took over, but space is the issue.

F J Farleigh

Kingsbridge

One side of the EU

KATE Ironside gave an excellent description (WMN June 8) of what would happen to the Lisbon Treaty if Gordon Brown quit.

But why doesn't she give more information about the EU? This would have been very helpful before the election.

On BBC Question Time, whenever Europe is mentioned, people in the audience say they don't know enough about the subject.

For example, in a democracy the elected government will be responsible for governing and passing laws. But how many people know that, in the EU, only the unelected Commission has the power to propose new legislation? So parties cannot make any promises to the electorate before a plebiscite.

If an MEP wants to query a proposal, he is usually restricted to one minute to present his opinion. This is just going through the motions of democracy.

An explanation would also be helpful from her as to why all members of the EU government, civil service, Euro police and soldiers of the European Army have a lifetime immunity from prosecution. Why are they above the law, Kate?

If we are given a one-sided view of such an important subject, surely the material written becomes propaganda and not journalism.

Michael Champness

Callington

Bill was abandoned

JOHN Phelps's justification of the use of the Parliament Act to force the Hunting Act into law (letter, June 9) is incorrect in one rather important detail: the Hunting Act as we have it is not the result of a Government Bill.

Having taken account of the Burns Report, Alun Michael, on behalf of the Government, proposed that hunting should continue under licence.

In a shabby deal to appease his backbenchers, a weakened Prime Minister abandoned the Government Bill and with it all principle, and allowed the ban to be forced through.

Jonathan Higgins

Totnes

Tony's turn now

I WRITE in response to a letter by Pauline Williams (Save your sympathy, June 11).

Wonderful points of view on the can of worms produced by Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

Tony's expense accounts may have been accidentally shredded, but surely the MPs' fees office have copies in these days of IT/computers? I believe self-employed people keep records for many years at the request of HMRC, so, just a thought, perhaps any rogues gallery expenses accounting could be uncovered by the Daily Telegraph.

Donald Bibey

Okehampton

Puzzling pie chart

IT IS normally accepted that a pie chart's smallest slice relates to "miscellaneous" or "other amount".

However a financial pie chart in a recent council magazine, Your Cornwall, shows "other income" of 24 per cent as the biggest slice (reading between the lines, this is estimated as £272m).

This should obviously been broken into smaller segments for the ratepayers' interests.

What has the council to hide? I can assure you that if I had submitted the same pie chart to my primary headteacher he would be bellowing out the words, "Hume boy, come here... explain this!"

M J R Hume

Threemilestone, Truro