In its attempts to remedy the fiscal mess left by Labour, the Government is considering making economies in the Coastguards service.

This is foolhardy and I would suggest that if it is serious in wanting to cut costs, then millions of pounds could be saved if it reduced the number of quangos.

No-one, not even the government, knows exactly how much these parasitical organisations cost the taxpayer, but it is estimated that they can gobble up anything from £90billion to £170billion a year.

However, the problem is not just that many of these myriad highly expensive organisations are in conflict with, or duplicate another’s activities.

They are also secretive and unaccountable to the electorate.

Both in opposition and when in power, politicians claim to want a bonfire of quangos, and while there might be a highly public burning of one or two, many new ones covertly rise out of the ashes.

D Walker, Barrowford.