BILLY NEILSON (HAS July 17) argues that the Labour Party must support Tory welfare cuts or risk becoming “the party of the past”.

These cuts include restricting child tax credit to the first two children, and the benefits cap, which penalises large families. We successfully renamed the “spare bedroom subsidy” as the bedroom tax, so let’s call this one the “family tax”.

Coverage of the recent budget in the Tory tabloids gave the impression that the Tories have miraculously become the “party of the working people”.

George Osborne’s decision to raise the minimum wage was a masterstroke in deception. The rise comes nowhere near compensating for draconian cuts in tax credits and in-work benefits.

The chancellor said: “Britain needs a pay rise.” So who actually got a pay rise? Only the rich. Three million of the poorest families will be around £1,000 worse off every year.

There’s more to come. Bit by bit we will see the NHS privatised and the Welfare State dismantled, and there will be further cuts in public services. But cheer up!

If for example, your local library is faced with closure, you can keep it open by persuading the redundant librarian to do her old job for no pay, as a volunteer. Other public services could be provided by forcing the unemployed to work for nothing. It’s called “The Big Society”.

If this is what a “party of the future” looks like, heaven help us.

Pete Winstanley, Durham.