However, I should like to say that we pensioners have heard excellent speeches in the past, when politicians say one thing and do another.

One example of this is when the same Gordon Brown said at a previous Labour Party Conference, prior to the 1997 election, and I quote: "I want the next Labour Government to achieve what in 50 years of the welfare state has never yet been achieved, an end to means testing for our elderly people."

This brings to mind the old adage "actions speak louder than words", for what is the situation today?

After three terms of that new Labour Government, the basic state pension is lagging well behind the spiralling cost of living.

We all know how food and energy prices have risen recently, council tax rises year on year . . . all these factors pushing more and more pensioners, especially women, below the Government's official poverty line.

What is the Government's answer to this? Apply for Pension Credit, which is means-tested and demeaning to older people. So much for Gordon Brown's previous speech.

What today's pensioners need is an increase in the basic state pension to bring it above the poverty line, the immediate restoration of the link to average earnings, which was broken by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s and promised to be restored by the Labour Government in 2012, by which time it is estimated that three million of today's pensioners will have died, finally an end to means testing of our elderly people.
Harry Tuttle,
Public Relations Office, Northampton Pensioners' Voice.

No divine right to salary raise
Reference to the article on September 23 regarding the police wanting the right to strike, it seems only in the public sector do employees think it is their divine right to a salary increase every year.

Some workers in the private sector had no salary increase at all last year.

And incidentally it is the private sector that produces the wealth of this country.

Could someone explain to me how is it that a bricklayer, truck driver, mechanic, scaffolder etc, etc is being told by this Government, that he or she will probably have to work until they are 68 years old, or even longer, to get quite an inadequate pension.

Yet a police officer can retire on a gold-plated, index-linked pension at 50 years of age?

And please don't give me the old chestnut that police officers retire at a very young age because it is a dangerous job.

Dr Roberts at Oxford University studied the most dangerous occupations, consulting death statistics of workers in all industries.

The police force came only 23rd in the most dangerous occupations.
William Thomas
Sussex Close, Duston, Northampton.

Wardens face more stress
I have read the recent letters from a warden/sheltered housing co-ordinator and a tenant about the the present service and I am pleased that it has stimulated some debate.

I fully endorse and support their comments.

I made my initial comments because of my concerns that the welfare and well-being of the residents are not best served by the present visiting regime, although apparently among certain managers it is seen as the action of a "lover scorned".

I chose to leave Northampton Borough Council for professional, principled and personal reasons which I clearly laid out prior to leaving.

The Supported People plan was meant to ensure that housing-related support was given to vulnerable adults to allow them to live independently in their own homes.

It has now turned into a tick-the-box service.

With the budget almost certainly being cut and its possible future under threat if the colour of the next government changes, even more stress will be placed on front line staff.

I have nothing but admiration for the vast majority of the front line staff who do a great job and I wish them all the best for the future.

It is up to tenants to ensure that they get the best service they deserve.

I am now moving on with my life with another housing provider.
Dave Howard,
Harrow, Middlesex.

Proposals could threaten market
Are plans to further reduce the size of Northampton's already much-adjusted and triangulated market, to make way for an even larger events space, really in the public interest?

The events, or entertainment space, that was first created two years ago to add interest, value, and thereby footfall to the town centre and was the supposed reason for the original changes, has not been greatly used in the intervening period.

So the real test is not how's the market doing, but has the events space succeeded in its aims?

French and Italian-themed markets as well as a dog show have drawn people into the town on those days, but there have also been many days in between when the reason for the empty space has mystified shoppers.

On the back of this, if reports are to be believed, it's planned to make it even bigger to accommodate 40 annual events and larger scale attractions, such as a rumoured four-day jazz festival, and to completely clear the Market Square up to four times a year.

This means the market becoming smaller, possibly not on so many days, or the traders being given enforced leave.

The problem with this is that it might not be what the people or traders of Northampton want, nor coincide with government best practice advice for town centres, which states that markets should be enhanced where they already exist and started where they don't.

Some also take the view that the Market Square will never be a night time family entertainment space because it isn't safe.

Then there is the question of protecting the cash surplus provided by the market that helps the town's budget.

Should the market fail due to its reduction in size, or being taken off the square regularly to accommodate events, then there would be no or very little income to fund these events either.

This worst case could result in no market and no events and would obviously be a disaster for all concerned.
C J McDonald,
Knightons Way, Brixworth.

Tories fall short of their promises
I am more than happy to accept the verdict of the electorate. As Mr J J Webb (Viewpoint, September 26) says, it was the electorate that "chose to out" us at the last election.

Likewise with taking a "more positive stance", Labour will – as is usual – put our plans to the voter and these plans will have to be based on the council's finances as they are now and as they become clearer when the present Tory administration publishes its draft budget a little later in the year.

In the meantime, I will continue to point out the present administration's shortcomings and remind voters what the Tories said in 2005 and how far short they have fallen of their promises.

These are not "perceived" cuts, they are real cuts that affect real people.

I am sure that Mr Webb will appreciate that Labour will – not for the first time – deal with the mess it inherits and, as I write, and as the Chron has reported, that could include the £22.5m so far unaccounted for in this year's accounts.
Councillor John McGhee,
Leader of the Opposition, Northamptonshire County Council