IN reply to D Pearson (Letters, August 6), the Labour Party does not accept the free market consensus forged by Thatcher.

There are certain things that should never be privatised, and those that already are must be brought under more stringent control.

The predictions he makes for the future of Tony Blair's Labour Party can be dismissed as 'wishful thinking.'

All forms of organisations, even those as institutionalised as religions, have to move with the times. But, in this regard, the party that has changed what it stood for is the Tory Party.

With the advent of Thatcher the word 'Conservatism' didn't appeal any more. The opposing of radical change was not her style at all. She wanted an American-style free market; a free-for-all that denied society and encouraged the greedy.

This, among other things led to urban problems such as soaring crime.

This legacy has resulted in the dissatisfaction that is most prevalent in the Tory Party today.

J P VERNON, Accrington Road, Blackburn.

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