IAIN DUNCAN SMITH reckons he could live on £53 per week (Echo, Apr 2). I am sure he could for one week but what about doing it for six months?

Has he taken into account £3 per week to save for a TV licence, bus fares to get to the supermarket, a battery for the clock, replacing clothes and shoes etc?

I dare say he hasn’t given a thought to daily living requirements, cleaning materials and personal hygiene products.

In fact, the list is endless.

If you can’t afford the bus fare to the big supermarkets, it costs much more to shop at the socalled convenience stores or even corner shops.

Anyone who thinks it is more important to give the rich more money while depriving the vulnerable in society, is in my opinion, lacking in moral judgement.

I agree the welfare system needs overhauling, as many people abuse it, but surely spending time and money rooting these people out would be more cost-effective in the long run and save unnecessary worry to the needy.

S Pope, Durham.

BUCKINGHAM Palace has 52 bedrooms all paid for by the tax payer, yet the Queen under occupies all her homes.

David Cameron, like many Conservative MPs, has several homes paid for by the tax payer.

Yet they are all are under occupied.

If we are all in this together then a “bedroom tax” should apply to everyone. They should pay for the privilege of having several homes.

The real way to reduce the benefits bill is to stop encouraging firms to relocate overseas and to give government contracts to British firms. Just closing the many loopholes in the tax system will save billions and allow the Government to pay for the construction of more social housing.

This will not only create construction jobs and help revive the private construction industry, but will reduce housing waiting lists and increase demand for domestic items such as cookers etc..

This spending will lead in turn to the creation of business opportunities and jobs.

With more people working, the benefits bill will automatically reduce while giving people money to spend will revive the economy.

CT Riley, Spennymoor.

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH declared on Radios 4’s Today programme that he could live on £53 per week (Echo, Apr 2). This simply shows how far from reality is a man on £3,000 per week who married into wealth.

But what is far more depressing than the Cabinet posh boys who do not know the price of a pint of milk, blaming and punishing the poor for economic failure, are polls that show a majority of ordinary people are on the Tory side in this argument.

Most folk are decent, however, and the Labour Party, set up by the trade union movement to represent the most vulnerable, must come out of its Blairite strait jacket and clearly expound growth and equality policies.

Otherwise the cause is lost.

The rich and powerful will continue to have it all.

Rob Meggs, Hartlepool.