This week there is a response which suggested that David's criticisms of the coalition government were hypocritical because Labour achieved nothing during its thirteen years in government.
Carol Hayton, our campaign co-ordinator, has written this reply:
In reply to Mr Bishop’s letter containing an accusation of hypocrisy and his claim that he has difficulty in thinking of a single thing that 13 years of Labour government has done, could I respectfully suggest that in that period he should have got out a bit more.
Had he done so he would have noticed the massive investment in public services such as schools and hospitals that turned these from the neglected and poorly performing institutions that they were under the Tories, into centres of excellence. He would have noticed individuals, families, older people at all levels in society sharing in the prosperity of one of the richest nations in the world, through tax and pension credits, the introduction of the minimum wage and many other benefits such as the winter fuel allowance and free eye tests for pensioners.
He would have noticed how Britain, as one of the wealthiest countries in the world, has helped to make the world a fairer place through an overseas development programme that has been praised throughout the globe.
If Mr Bishop is sufficiently interested, I recommend that he Google 'Labour’s achievements', he will clearly be surprised by the number of references to these he will find, and I am sure he will not have to search too far to find some which he himself has been a beneficiary of.
As for the new government putting things right, the reality is that all this good work is being put at risk by a reckless Tory policy agenda that will throw people out of work, hold back economic growth and damage the public services we all rely on.
And if he wants real examples of hypocrisy, how about the hypocrisy of the Liberal Democrats who now support an increase in VAT from 17.5% to 20%, having campaigned so hard against it before the election. This increase will result in higher prices in the shops for everyone, from pensioners to the unemployed.
So Mr Bishop, do not expect the Labour Party to withhold criticism. We have seen the pain inflicted on ordinary people by the pernicious policies of previous Tory governments, we won’t keep quiet and let it happen again.
Yours sincerely
Carol Hayton
Campaign Co-ordinator, Horsham Labour party
Here is a list of fifty achievements on the Labour party's website. How many of them have already been reversed or put at risk by government announcements in the last three months?