THE reasons why the public are turned off by politicians is the way in which politics is portrayed as a superficial and cosmetic gimmick in many of the tabloids.

It is very difficult to see beyond the headlines and, of course, David Cameron and George Osborne are past masters of the marketing hype. They play on the fear of a return to the pre-austerity casino economy by using the mask of more cuts, but dangling in the short -term pleasures. It’s like the payday loan culture that grips Britain.

We need a strong economy built on proper jobs with a living wage. Jobs that are protected. Jobs that generate opportunities for those who want to buy houses and secure their future and contribute to that economy.

Part-time work and zero hours contracts are hardly reassuring. Nor are they reflected in the real state of employment, where the jobless figures seem to be falsified.

The uncertainty of work, of contracts that are open-ended, and of threats that unless you toe the line you can be replaced, have to change in favour of building relationships with the workforce. This will surely lead to a genuine “we are all in this together” approach.

Bernie Walsh, Coxhoe.