Needy must not pay for pandemic

■ Gordon Brown is right when he says Chancellor Rishi Sunak must help the young and jobless and the many businesses on the verge of collapse (Mirror, March 1).

Unfortunately, unemployment is likely to rise even more once lockdown is lifted with as many as one in three facing hardship in the coming months.

The Mirror is also right to say this crisis Budget must not be bodged – it’s too important. Young people are this country’s future and the Government must save them from becoming a lost generation.

Sunak has a momentous task on his hands and his Budget must contain ambitious measures, otherwise, as Mr Brown says, he will have failed in his duty to us.

Dave Mellor, Warrington, Cheshire

■ One of the biggest tragedies of this crisis is how it has disproportionately impacted different groups. Young people and the poor have been hit very hard, while the middle classes have saved by working from home.

I agree with Gordon Brown who says the Budget must help the young and create jobs. Now is the time for investing in the next generation, Mr Sunak, not for talking about how we are going to claw back cash after your government has thrown around taxpayers’ money like confetti and handed out public contracts willy-nilly.

J R Wright, Southampton

■ I wish Mr Brown was our Chancellor now, not fishy Rishi, the richest man in the Tory Cabinet of

millionaires. He can’t have the slightest inkling about how many families are struggling just for the basics otherwise he wouldn’t even contemplate taking away the £20 a week Universal Credit uplift.

Gordon Brown is a political giant by comparison.

Harry Smith, Barnsley, South Yorks

■ Is the Chancellor going to start collecting taxes back from all the firms that have made vast profits during the pandemic, I wonder?

He needs to do this before he starts hitting the workers and pensioners who are just trying to pay their way.

He knows which firms got lucrative public contracts, including PPE that was faulty or not delivered.

Pauline Davies

Stockton-on-tees, Teesside

■ Gordon Brown knows a thing or two about the economy and is correct to say the Government must help the young who have been hit very hard by the pandemic. Not doing anything risks creating

a lost generation without hope and dependent on state handouts.

Brian Dobson, Greater Manchester

■ It seems that nearly everyone is getting some sort of government help apart from the pensioners – a group hit hard by the pandemic.

Costs are rising fast but our pension isn’t. We are just being left to rot – and the final straw is the removal of free TV licences for the over-75s. Scandalous.

David Smith, Harwich, Essex

■ It astounds me the reasons people give for voting Tory. “They’re educated, therefore better equipped to run the economy” is one often repeated.

The truth is they run the economy for the benefit of themselves and their friends, whereas Labour work from the bottom up. Because of the public’s naivety we have another four years of inept Tory leadership. I bet they’re laughing their socks off that people are fooled so easily.

STEPHEN HENDRY rattled in the 776th century break of his career on his comeback after nine years away.

But it was not enough for the 52-year-old record seven-time world champion to claim victory on his big night behind closed doors against good friend Matt Selt at the Gibraltar Open.

Hendry is giving it another throw of the dice after accepting World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn’s offer of a two-year invitational wildcard tour place back in September.

The legend has taken his time coming back to the table, and there were false starts including cold feet about the lack of fans and his own level of preparation.

World No.35 Selt, who said in the build-up that victory would see him as popular as “the man that shot Bambi’s mum”, ran out an impressive 4-1 winner.

But in frame two Hendry, the winner of 36 ranking titles and No.1 for a total of nine years, was back in century break-making business with a run of 107.

The Scot’s compiling of the points was more sedate and methodical, but the steely-eyed determination and competitive streak were undimmed.

Hendry’s last century break came in his final Crucible campaign in 2012 in

Sheffield against compatriot John Higgins, an effort of 123.

Next for Hendry it will be the world championship qualifiers as he bids to get back to the Crucible.

Hendry said: “It was great, I felt the nerves when I put the suit on. My stomach was tight driving up. I felt nervous, which is a good sign.

“Without nerves, you cannot perform, but it needs to be nerves of excitement and expectations and not knowing what is going on.

“I was quite happy, I didn’t miss anything easy, I need to cut out unforced errors, I thought Matt played fantastic, he didn’t miss a ball. But I am delighted to hit a century on my return.

“Matt played brilliantly, but my game isn’t good enough yet, there is work to do, and a month of practice to get it better.”