Would Labour drag us back to the Seventies?

IT HAS been suggested that the Labour manifesto promises to take us back to the basket case economy of the Seventies (Mail). The dereliction of responsibility that the Brexit referendum represented has already committed us to that fate. Oh, for a political class that is concerned for the country rather than the fate of their parties. GILES MABERLEY, Reigate, Surrey. I AM dismayed to see Labour’s old rhetoric reinvented in desperation, having experienced life under Labour in the Seventies, with 15 per cent inflation, raging prices and strikes. There seemed no escape or hope of a decent future. Jeremy Corbyn is not a leader, but a mere propaganda puppet for his trades union paymasters. An alternative dream policy for young voters would be free drinks in Wetherspoons for life, a nationalised mobile phone network and complimentary air travel. The middle-aged can work if they want, but not too hard, as high taxes will clobber anyone with ambition. BRIAN BURGE, Southampton. BACK to the Seventies? If only that were true, for if it was we would still have a manufacturing base and own our utilities and railways, with training for the young and decent terms and conditions at work. JOHN FRAY, Oxford.