SIR - Unsurprisingly, Brian Holmans rebukes Mike Priestley for having dared to criticise Gordon Brown (T&A, September 25).

I am sure hundreds of thousands of working class people, encouraged, if not coerced, into providing, either individually or through company pension schemes, for their retirement, will agree with Mike and not Mr Holmans.

Of course Brown has robbed them to help pour money into services such as the NHS; money which even the Minister responsible has publicly stated has made no difference to its efficiency.

The same working class also know that there is no loophole which can be closed to prevent there having to pay for Brown's retirement and that of the whole of public services.

Mr Holmans deserves to have Brown as the next PM but I am pretty confident he'll only have him until the next general election. That is my fervent hope.

Philip Bird, Nab Wood Terrace, Shipley