ONE of the enduring problems in the Labour Party has always been the working class firebrands who are seduced by money and power as soon as they become national politicians.

In fact, perhaps because of their backgrounds, they seem to be particularly deferential to the wealthy. I’m thinking of Neil Kinnock and Alan Milburn.

This is no longer a problem because the current generation of Labour politicians miss the firebrand stage altogether and emerge as national leaders without any experience of life as lived by the people they claim to represent.

They surface directly from university or political internships and spout any nonsense their speech writers put in front of them.

Recently, Ed Miliband, in a keynote speech, stated that “optimism can defeat despair” and that his party must “renew and reinvent it’s mission”.

His latest cause appears to be “the squeezed middle” when, in fact, he should be more concerned about the “squashed bottom” – the sick, the poor, the unemployed and those being exploited in poorly paid jobs.

The Labour Party should, instead of emphasising measures where it agrees with the Coalition, be offering some measure of hope to these people and putting forward propositions to ensure that the wealthy make a fair and equal contribution to lowering the national deficit.

VJ Connor, Bishop Auckland.