NOW that it’s pretty clear that the coalition government’s economic strategy is not working, can we hope to spared further lectures on the faiIings of the last Labour government for our present economic position?

Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are natural disasters beyond human control; financial crises of the kind we are now experiencing are not.

Unrestrained market forces and very dodgy banking practices have brought our present woes.

That need not have happened, and the charge against the present government is that they pushed ahead with a deficit reduction strategy before the economy showed signs of any recovery; the philosophy of if you are in a hole then keep digging a bigger hole.

A little humility might be more appropriate.

GORDON CANN, Craigmoor Avenue, Bournemouth