SIR – I read with interest various columnists’ views on the whys and wherefores of Labour’s defeat in the General Election. With unerring hindsight, they all seem to think that Labour sent out the wrong message and that suddenly, the Tories have become the party of the working man and the direct enemy of business.

An interesting theory but very flawed in every respect.

Yet again, the money spent on spin doctors and support from the right wing press have been seen to be the biggest influence on the electorate.

In the words of Joseph Goebbels: “If you tell a big enough lie and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.’’ It almost worked for him and it certainly looks to have worked for the Tories, and as in the case of Mr Goebbels, it will probably take five years of abject misery for the people to realise that they were misled.

Just because Labour were either incapable or morally correct in failing to tell a big enough lie, doesn’t mean that they have deserted their core values.

Colin Durkin, Moffat Road, Bradford