When Frances Ryan asks “What is the point of Labour?” she is articulating the thoughts of many voters who have waited years for a sea change in the government and now fear that a Labour one under Keir Starmer will simply offer us Tory-lite (What’s the point of Starmer’s Labour if it won’t stand up for poor, sick or disabled people?, 12 March). She rightly identifies that Labour’s policy agenda seems to be shaped by a small group of rightwing newspapers, resulting in Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves parading around dressed in the sackcloth and ashes of fiscal responsibility.
There is a fundamental flaw and inherent dishonesty in adopting this economic straitjacket while propounding the notion of growing the economy as the route to recovery and the rebuilding of public services. Starmer needs to be honest with the electorate that growing the economy will only improve the wealth and wellbeing of us all if it is accompanied by a redistributive tax regime, where those who prosper the most pay the most and additional tax revenues are invested in public services and infrastructure.
Peter Riddle
Wirksworth, Derbyshire
