SIR – The economy is supposed to have grown by 0.8 per cent between July and the end of September, but more than half of that growth is to be found in London and the South-East. The Government is trumpeting success, so let us have a few facts to ponder on.

Official figures show that unsecured borrowing (credit card debt, overdrafts and loans) has risen sharply since the middle of 2012, so any growth is being fuelled by an increase in personal debt. Inflation has outstripped wages for 39 out of the last 40 months; five million people are living in fuel poverty (where gas and electric cost over 10 per cent of household income) – only Estonia in the EU is worse; food bank use has gone up by 170 per cent in the past year; the economy is still 2.5 per cent below 2007 levels. Trust me, this “growth” cannot last.

Ian Parsons, Alexandra Road, Eccleshill