WE ARE led to believe Britain is beginning to boom again with wages up, jobs-a-plenty and inflation lower than a rattlesnake’s belly.

In fact, everything is tickety-boo.

So why have the Tories penned in an “emergency budget” on July 8?

There is no national emergency. Just a bullish urgency to reduce the deficit by stripping more money from the less well-off.

Welfare is top of the agenda, with at least £12 billion of cuts on the way.

We know welfare needs reforming, but the axe is swinging in the wrong direction: Disability Living Allowance, Child Benefit and Child Tax credits are benefits of necessity.

Another – the Working Tax Credit – was introduced in 2003 for people who work but have a low income. This is also a Tory target and could possibly be axed or subject to strict conditions.

Conditions such as regular interviews with job centre staff – that’s not only scary, it’s stuff of nightmares!

Diehard Tories say there are more jobs than ever before, but searching for more hours or a better paid job or asking your boss for a pay rise can only come from a party not on this planet.

Stephen Dixon, Redcar