SIR – John Hall is desperately clutching at straws in his defence of Nick Clegg (letters, August 17). Mr Clegg (pictured) entered into a coalition agreement with the Conservatives and has gained precisely nothing from it.

His two main constitutional demands lay in tatters and will never be enacted, so he will go down in history as the leader who destroyed his party by hitching his future and that of his party with the most right-wing and ideologically-driven Conservative administration in modern history – far to the right of even Margaret Thatcher.

Together they have declared war on the welfare state – with many cuts still to be made, people do not yet realise the extent to which the poor and the disabled are under attack, as if they are somehow responsible for the financial mess caused by under-regulated money markets.

The facts speak for themselves, John. I simply state the facts as they are and not how you want them to be. For instance, on student fees, the Labour Party introduced tuition fees because student numbers had risen exponentially and it was no longer reasonable for the state to subsidise that amount out of general taxation.

It was arguable that the old ratio of five per cent of the population going to university was affordable, even though it was a massive gift to the upper and middle classes who took advantage of it. When 40 per cent of young people are expected to go, that argument starts to break down.

Ian Parsons, Alexandra Road, Eccleshill , Bradford