From cheers of agreement, I swiftly fell to jeers of derision. Perhaps Mr Cosgrove would re-evaluate his assessment of Labour politics if he realised that the current government has chosen to target some of this country's most vulnerable and needy people: single parents and their children.

As it stands now, the right of home educating lone parents to stay at home to perform the vital task of educating and guiding their young ones is at risk.

The government seems determined to compel powerless individuals to go to work and return their children to a state school system which has often already proved damaging to the young ones.

Not only does the idea of forcing parents into jobs hold no moral qualms for this government, but the Secretary for State in the Department for Children, Schools and Families tells us it's not his business, it's a matter for the Department of Works and Pensions.

If a child's welfare is not a matter for the Minister for Children,
Schools and Families, whose concern is it then?

The whole debacle is particularly galling when one considers that each home educating parent saves the government around £5,000 by not educating a child at school.

So, speaking personally, Mr Cosgrove, I would be delighted if the present government disappeared into the jungle of history because it would suit them down to the ground. They are nothing but moral pygmies.


DIANE VARTY
Whitley Lodge, Whitley Bay
Whitley Bay.

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