DAVID CAMERON got his deck of cards out this week, he then reshuffled the cabinet (Echo, Oct 8).

He promoted a handful of women and MPs with less than privileged backgrounds in what was dubbed a “flat cap reshuffle”.

After spending more than three years bashing the poor, does Mr Cameron think us Northerners are so stupid to believe an Andy Capp-style cabinet re-launch will suddenly turn the Tories into the new saviours of the North?

Even more amazing, how on Earth did the PM find any Northern Tories to promote in the first place? I thought they were all but extinct.

Those he did unearth included the former GMTV presenter Esther McVey. She replaced the woeful Work and Pensions Minister, Mark Hoban.

He shouldn’t find it too difficult to find new employment as he was constantly quoted as saying there are plenty of jobs out there.

But fair dos, at least Ms McVey comes well-qualified for the position: her media work and stint as a breakfast TV presenter will come in most handy when dodging those difficult questions regarding fiddled unemployment figures.

After all, one of her old TV shows was titled “How do they do that?”

Stephen Dixon, Redcar.