SIR: It is so sad that the New Labour Party and the union leaders have betrayed the pensioners.

We are the worst paid pensioners in the European Union. Even Ireland's pensioners do much better and the Germans, who a lot of pensioners fought against and defeated, are much better off.

What a shame it is on the UK and this Government and the next that the just and moral case for the pensioners' £20 per week that Margaret Thatcher took off them to give to the "fat cats" is not to be restored.

Even Barbara Castle sees this as a shame on a very rich country and a moral injustice.

New Labour are no different than the greedy Tories.

So much for democracy and fairness. It is every man for himself and the weak to the wall.

A Chattin, Bridgeman Street, Farnworth.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.