WHEN is a cut not a cut — when it is a temporary payment!

Mr Harkin omits from his letter, re winter fuel allowances, that the extra £50 was a temporary payment. It was awarded because last winter was the coldest for 30 years. If this winter is another bad one, I fully expect the Government to agree to issue another temporary payment to pensioners.

The value of cold weather payment — for which four million people are potentially eligible if temperatures are at or below freezing for seven consecutive days — is £25 a week. This means £420 million will be paid this winter to those with greatest need.

Maybe if power companies didn’t make such exorbitant profits and had lower prices, everyone would benefit. Rather than criticising, Mr Harkin would be better employed putting his energy into lobbying MPs to get gas and electric prices reduced.

The reality is the Labour party has no credible economic policy and had they formed the Government, they would have put VAT up, would have increased other taxes, would have increased petrol duty and would have cut spending as the IMF would have insisted they did.

Kath Kavanagh Conservative candidate Tonge with The Haulgh