SIR – There has been deafening silence from John Hall and his fellow Liberal Democrats, ever since the letter from John Cole about the state of the economy when Labour left office in 2010.

John Cole did us all a service when he pointed out the truth of the situation. Like John, I taught economics, and the simple fact is that Labour really did quite well with the economy – as I have been saying ad nauseum in the letters column – until the financial crisis destroyed the tax base and left the so-called structural deficit.

I commend John Cole for his integrity and his honesty; it cannot have been easy for a Liberal Democrat member to speak out in such a way. You are a gentleman, sir.

Ian Parsons, Alexandra Road, Eccleshill