WHY does Mr Blair assume that all single mums can healthily hold down a job while looking after their children?

Through Work And Pensions Secretary John Hutton, he comes up with ideas to encourage more into work, implying that looking after a family in some way is not work.

Has he considered that single mums and dads may simply put all their energies into catering for the children and have none left over for "work", as he puts it?

Mr Blair seems to lack vision, or perhaps comes across as a bit cruel and self-centred, someone who could not care less about the vagaries of human nature.

With a declining population and increasing unemployment, single mums and dads should be given many more options other than forcing them reluctantly into work that does not suit them or their children, often involving unsocial hours and low financial reward.

There is no need to financially penalise single mums and dads or those on invalidity benefit. Rather, intelligent persuasion through opportunity and investment in new technology should enable people to work at or nearer home.

This should be used in a wider context for the working population as a whole, to reduce commuting, congestion and pollution.

New technology has not been used to its best effect to provide business and people with better time management and improve energy conservation (think of all those huge office buildings and the power used for heat and lighting).

The Government could so easily harness this untapped potential and use the obvious and dormant talent to add to the wealth of UK plc.

T Scaife,

Manor Drive, York.

Updated: 09:11 Thursday, January 26, 2006