THE RECENT announcement of extra government money for pensioners was a welcome one, and I am pleased to see that Age Concern and other pensioner groups were happy with the new money.

At last it seems that after years of neglect under the Tories, where pensioners' needs rarely made the news or drew the attention of the Chancellor, they are being listened to, and hopefully this extra money will be a start with more to come.

However, there is a worrying note in all of this, and that surrounds a possible change of government. With Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Michael Portillo promising to cut spending by £16 billion, as well as spending £8 billion on tax cuts, mainly for the well off, pensioners could again lose out if the Tories were re-elected.

In fact, rather than welcome the extra money set aside by the Government, the Tories have spent their time complaining that the Government has acted in response to pensioner pressure. I am glad they have -- it is a sign that the government is listening.

By his reaction, Michael Portillo has made it clear that he would not have acted, which just goes to show how high on his list of priorities pensioners would be.

P Ferguson

Dentdale Close,

Bolton.