HAROLD MACKENLEY (HAS, Dec 6) tells us not to support Labour and to “think outside the box” and vote Conservative.

Well, at this General Election my mind is very much on the boxes aka coffins of the people who have lost their lives under the Tory regime.

More than 17,000 people have died since 2013 while waiting to hear whether their claims for disability have been successful.

We also know that in 2018 there were an estimated 726 deaths of homeless people in England and Wales, 22 per cent up on 2017.

Surely one death of someone living on our cold and unfriendly streets is one too many? Labour has pledged to end rough sleeping within a parliament and tackle the root cause of homelessness, which let’s be honest is mostly due to the harsh and hostile treatment of vulnerable people by the Tory government’s DWP rules.

Never mind harking back 60 years, our country is in crisis now, people need help, children need food, warmth and education, workers need holidays and sick pay rights, old people need care, we all need the NHS.

Long words don’t fill tummies, compassion and practical help does which is why I am voting Labour.

Barbara Bates, Shildon