No need of a put-down

Letter: A home economics lesson from the Prime Minister is the last thing families need as they struggle, with increasingly difficulty, to balance the household budget.

The underlying message - that too much good food ends up in the bin - is a worthwhile one that will resonate with many, particularly with those who remember the austerity of the war years and are consequently horrified by the waste they see today.

However, Gordon Brown is the wrong messenger. As Chancellor and now Prime Minister he has led this country down an economic dead end and now wants families to take the blame for their financial plight.

Even if households could save the £400 he claims they waste on groceries every year, this would barely impact on the higher mortgage, fuel, home energy and council tax costs they now have to pay.

Consumers might be more prepared to listen to the Prime Minister's advice if it had been accompanied by a frank analysis of his own contribution to the crisis facing many people.

Mr Brown could have apologised for using punitive indirect taxes on motoring to balance the government's books, which directly add to the cost of supermarket goods.

Before lambasting families for wasting food, the Prime Minister might have reflected on how one Whitehall department throws away 20 tonnes a year while the government fails to meet its own targets for reducing poverty.

He should also have reviewed his government's enthusiasm for bio fuels and lack of support for UK producers, both of which impact upon food prices and security of supply.

Of course, he did none of these things because this is a Prime Minister who is happiest when he is lecturing others. Yet this is the reason voters are deserting Labour in droves. They need a helping hand - not a put-down from Mr Brown.

William Davis, Hall Street East, Wednesbury.