I AM sick and tired of hearing the term ‘the hard-working people of this country’ and that is who the government is looking after.

So if you are on the dole, off sick, disabled or out of work you don’t count because unless you’re a hard-working person the government is not on your side.

The Queen’s speech in reality was a joke; some MPs didn’t even bother to go and listen to it.

They then spent most of the afternoon slagging each other off.The Speaker chastised the Scottish National Party members for handclapping as it seems this is forbidden in the house. I rather have clapping than the raucous and disgusting behaviour that they are allowed to participate in.

The people of Bolton should be particularly careful about some of the bills: if you are poor or if you have nowhere to live there is not much in this Queen’s speech for you.

Interestingly, the NHS in the year 2014-15 has ended up in debt to the tune of £822 million; the cost to the NHS of PFI contracts for the same period is £1.85 trillion but there is no mention of this in the NHS five-year plan to which the government is committed. The NHS quite simply cannot afford the repayments on PFI. This should be taken out and paid for by the government because all three parties are responsible for PFIs.

The government is hell bent on curtailing our freedoms and the British public seem stupid enough to say I don’t care if it keeps us safe. It won’t but your freedoms will have gone forever; the intelligence service has more than enough capability of keeping in front of the game.

I met a lady in Berlin in the Jewish Museum. She asked me where I came from and when I said the UK she said how lucky you all are to live in a country with so much freedom.

The government want to curtail trade union freedoms and want to introduce a system of voting which, if imposed on Parliament would mean that most of our MPs would not be elected. This is yet another wicked move by our ‘We’re all in it together’ government who is still keeping a freeze on local government workers and NHS staff.

Finally ask yourself this if the country is doing as well as they say it is why are interest rates still at half a percent? Why is the Bank of England buying our debts by printing money? This is a joke. The latest trade figures are the worst for three years. I have said it before – we’re living in Bedlam. I just don’t understand why people seem to think we’re doing very well; unless you are in the top 1% you could be flushed down the tubes.

Ian Greenhalgh

Bolton