MANY northern constituencies decided to elect Conservative MPs in the recent General Election, often for the first time in living memory.

This was widely seen as a protest over the way in which the relatively poor north has been neglected in comparison to the richer south. However, in practice the votes of these so-called “red-wall” MPs in Parliament support Boris Johnson’s Government as it enacts typical Conservative policies to the detriment of many of our poorer citizens.

The latest example is their support in defeating the Labour motion calling for an extension of Marcus Rashford’s scheme to feed children on free school meals over the school holidays.

The Government was, very reluctantly, forced to concede this in the summer by the weight of public opinion, but have now decided they can no longer afford to help poor families who are struggling to cope with the financial consequences of the coronavirus crisis.

However, they could afford to subsidise those who are well able to pay for restaurant meals with their “eat out to help out” scheme, and they continue to waste billions of pounds of taxpayer’s money on consultants and businesses providing their ineffective test and trace system.

Theresa May once talked of people calling the Conservatives “the Nasty Party”; this meanness shows that she was right!

Alan Jordan, Middridge.