SIR – 2013 looks like being an annus horribilis for many people, especially those of little means.

2012 saw Comet fold with the loss of thousands of jobs, but there will be many more established firms going to the wall as well as independent high street shops.

There will even be job losses at the utility companies in an attempt to continue paying those at the top of the hierarchy obscenely high salaries as well as keeping shareholders happy. Muggings, robberies and violent crimes will increase, regardless of what statistics say, and last year’s riots will pale into insignificance unless the gap between rich and poor narrows considerably.

Price increases at treble the rate of inflation, countless homes being repossessed, homelessness rife, food banks unable to cope with demand with even waste bins being plundered and 37,000 Bradford children living in poverty are the result of a Government which is medieval in outlook.

Margaret Thatcher said “where there is despair, we shall bring hope”. She didn’t and neither will David Cameron.

David Rhodes, Croscombe Walk, Bradford