RICHARD Martin (Letters, February 17) makes a biased and reactionary case for curtailing the “evils of modern capitalism”.

He implies that a desire for personal freedoms and for the encouragement of free enterprise is steeped in political ideaology.

In this, you insult the intelligence of constituents who just believe in a simple human right to self-determination without constant state control — in other words, taking the politics out of society!

Perhaps — and forgive me if I misjudge you Richard — you should pay less allegiance to the current tactics of the Labour Party who show no acceptance of any blame for bringing this country to the brink of bankruptcy by reckless borrowing long before the banking crisis.

They try to deflect attention and blame by making responsible management of our economy sound like a “slash and burn” ideology.

Turning to your criticisms of former publicly-owned power and rail services, you forget about the chaotic nature of many services when they were subject to the power of the unions, resulting, for example, in the “Winter of Discontent”!

We have a very diverse range of services now which have been freed from state control, for instance in communications and the media, where we can shop around repeatedly. It’s called “Power by, not to, the People”.

Derek Brooks Tottington