THE gospel according to Colin Mortimer, of Pity Me, (HAS Sept 30) is that when Labour say or do something it is to win votes, whereas the Tory party do it all for the good of the country.

Colin might have a point with the present incumbents of key posts. However, he criticises the previous Labour administration for not doing anything about the spiralling cost of energy, yet I’m 100 per cent certain that in Tony Blair’s first year the Labour administration introduced the winter fuel allowance.

Surveys showed that more people were dying of a cold home than died in road traffic accidents.

If you ask what the current Government has done about spiralling energy costs then it has savagedly reduced the winter fuel payment for the elderly and vulnerable by hundreds of pounds.

John Phelan, Howden-Le-Wear.