THERESA May wants a better Snooper’s Charter and what does she highlight for this? Terrorism, of course and nobody can argue against that.

She also includes serious crime; I’m not quite sure what she considers serious crime is. I think laundering drug money, banking terrorist money, aiding offshore accounts to avoid tax, accepting payments from foreign heads of state into the city of London without due diligence, bankers’ fraud and fixing interest rates illegally is serious crime. Bringing the country to bankruptcy is serious crime but will this charter help the police to arrest and imprison these people?

It has come to light that MI5 has been listening to everybody’s telephone conversations for the last 10 years. Has anybody been arrested as a result of this eavesdropping? No. Why not?

A former Fraud Squad detective said on TV that he made a speech on fraud in America; afterwards, a British banker said he was interested in the speech but he couldn’t agree that these people should be in prison. He said: 'You don’t seem to understand, people of my class will never go to prison because we are a protected species.'

The detective said he had never forgotten that and it does seem to be true. No one should be above the law.

You only have to look at the former Rochdale MP Sir Cyril Smith. Mrs Thatcher was told not to give the honour to him because it would bring the Honours system into disrepute but she did. Disgusting. I believe that these new measures will not make one jot of difference in arresting and prosecuting the real criminals of this world – bankers.

If you claim a little more than you’re entitled to from the state benefit system you are classed as a leper, cheating the system; you are a banker manipulating billions and you are promoted to the House of Lords and given a knighthood. Iceland sent the bankers to prison but now they’re prospering.

Ian Greenhalgh

Bolton