SIR - John Hall is quite right in saying the NHS doesn’t belong to Labour – it belongs to the British people.

Nevertheless, it WAS founded by the great reforming Labour Government of 1945 and everyone in the Labour movement over the years has a justifiable right to feel proud of that achievement.

And we should remember, the NHS began amidst a background of hostility from some in the medical establishment and many in the Conservative Party too. The NHS has always been problematical for the Tories as its publicly owned nature goes against all their political instincts.

But, because it is so popular, they are forced to keep these in check.

Of course, another major point worth making is that after WW2 this country was ‘broke.’ Yet, that didn’t stop the Labour Government back then who had the support of the people, even at the expense of popular war leader Winston Churchill, making huge changes to the way the country was run, massively investing in so many areas to make sure ordinary people were better housed, had jobs with sufficient wages to put food on the table and other aspects that made life happier and more secure.

Today, we are told by some that austerity is absolutely essential, yet 70 years ago, a very different and much more positive solution was offered.

David Hornsby, West View Avenue, Wrose