SIR: One suspects that those in the Tory party who condemn the Social Chapter, the principal of the minimum wage and union organisation would not have been out of place campaigning in the early 19th century.

They would have supported the claim that a working day of 12 or more hours was necessary if industry was to be competitive. There would be little disagreement with the view that accidents in factories and mines were inevitable as safety measures would impose unrealistic costs on employers. They would argue that the workers should be grateful that the owners at least provided the opportunity to earn a miserly wage. Child labour from the earliest age would have been justified as a measure to prevent vandalism and youth crime by ensuring that children were gainfully occupied.

Then as now they would have strongly objected to taxation of the wealth that was being generated to spend on social and environmental improvements as an unacceptable threat to profit levels.

Are these Victorian values to return for the 21st century?

R Evans

Crescent Avenue, Over Hulton

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