I was pleased that the Government did a U- turn on Monday and decided to reverse the abolition of the 45 per cent income tax band for those earning more than £150k. Everybody I have spoken to is also pleased. And credit where credit is due, the Government did change its mind as a result of almost universal opposition.

So I could hardly believe it when a day later they made it clear that those on benefits will see a drop in their real income. Yet again it’s the poorest in our society who will pay the bills for tax cuts and have to deal with the stark reality of austerity which is now just around the corner. I think its immoral. 40 per cent of those on Universal Credit are currently in work but are paid so little they cannot live adequately so the Government tops up their wages. They just don’t seem to understand how the majority of us think.

I regularly meet Conservative voters and most of them are decent people who care about the welfare state, pay their taxes and believe we should do the right thing for those who are poorest. But I think that increasingly local Conservative associations have been taken over by right-wingers and it’s they who are pressuring the Government to adopt these crazy economic policies and not people who have hitherto voted Conservative.

Philip Parry

South-West Herts Labour Party