IN REPLY to George Appleby (Letters, October 24), I agree that demonstrators against corporate greed may eventually force politicians to acknowledge their message.

If protests did force a General Election, I still cannot see any existing political party being worth voting for. They are all controlled or manipulated by the rich and greedy, especially in the US – where our problems originated.

Our focus is distracted by the Greek economy and will change when the euro collapses. Attention will then return to the real problem – the mountains of debt incurred by the financial sector.

Any other type of business would have been forced into administration, yet the political influence of the banks allows them to carry on borrowing taxpayers’ money.

This simply increases their debt and lets shareholders pocket the cash. As long as the situation continues, the rich will get richer and the rest will be paying for it.

It is time the banks were forced to face their debts instead of imposing austerity measures on the rest of us. Let the culprits be closed down in a controlled manner before they all collapse.

Future generations do indeed have challenging and exciting times ahead of them.

PL Hart, Springwood, Haxby, York.