KEITH Thornton (Letters, February 11) accuses Andy Whelan and the Labour Party of being “in denial” about the role of the private sector in creating prosperity.

Perhaps his own blind spot is essential public sector provision: education and health services, transport and communication infrastructure, without which business cannot prosper.

Perhaps he also forgets how the debt created under the last Labour Government occurred.

Until the banking crisis, Labour’s biggest deficit was 3.3 per cent of gross domestic product; a figure often exceeded during the Thatcher-Major years.

The huge debt to which Mr Thornton refers resulted from the activities of privately-owned banks.

Faced with the collapse of the banks, the Labour Government was forced to choose between allowing them to fail (which would have meant catastrophic business failures throughout the economy and millions of us being unable to use our bank accounts) and bailing them out.

Gordon Brown acted decisively to save the banks, but at the cost of nationalising a mountain of private debt.

Economic recovery has actually been delayed by Tory austerity policies. George Osborne has failed to meet any of his own targets of debt and deficit reduction.

Rather than change course, he now threatens us with public spending cuts on a scale unprecedented in modern times, which will hurt all of us except the very rich.

Meanwhile, the growth we are at last witnessing is over-dependent on a housing asset bubble and financial services, rather than the strong manufacturing sector Mr Thornton may be hoping for.

We cannot afford another Tory government.

Chris Walker-Lyne, Millfield Road, York.