SEVERAL citizens write letters to The Press, declaring that all state benefits should be withdrawn from unemployed people who do not accept the job they are offered.

This political view is defined as the right wing of the Conservative party.

History tells us all that monasteries were founded in the 7th century, charities in the Middle Ages, the dole and OAP by the Liberal Party, against fierce opposition, at the beginning of the 20th century.

Can you guess who opposed them, every step of the way?

What explanation can you offer for the fact that some citizens of the 21st century are still so opposed to the civilised standards which have been developed over 1,000 years, that they cannot yet comprehend the idea of kindness, which monks once showed to the world, in the Dark Ages?

Centuries have taught a majority to have some concern for the helpless and the beggar, but these particular citizens have chosen proudly to declare their indifference and contempt for the poor, which amounts to a sentence of starvation.

I already know the Iain Duncan Smith answer, that “we are only doing it for their own good”.

I find that wholly unconvincing. What a waste of your whole life, just to think like that.

C N Westerman, Meadow Rise, Brynna, Mid Glamorgan