I LISTENED intently to the garbage emanating from Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith and Prime Minister David Cameron both saying that they are going to cap benefits at £23,000 per house.

I have no knowledge of any person or family which receives this amount - are they living in the real world?

David Cameron and Boris Johnson are have plenty of money.

The poor Queen has to move out of Buckingham Palace so it can have a £150m refit. What a shame. I cannot get under-felt on my council house roof, perhaps this crew wants to live in the real world on a real planet instead of living in cloud cuckoo land?

Peter Clark, Durham.

IN a time of austerity, with families living below the breadline and going without food if it wasn't for Conservative kitchens (food banks), we read in The Northern Echo that billions of pounds are needed for work on the Houses of Parliament and £150m is to be spent on refurbishing Buckingham Palace.

I feel sorry for the Royal family for the inconvenience they will suffer having to be transported across London to another luxurious palace.

Three years ago my wife and I moved from a council house to a pensioners' bungalow, we received a cheque for £100 for paint, brushes, rollers and emulsion and were told to get on with it.

If £150m was spent converting Buckingham Palace and the rest of the Royal residences into accommodation for homeless people, they could give the Royals first choice of one of the flats.

That would make me a happy man.

Terry Tucker, St Helens, Auckland.