IT does not come as a great surprise to me that this arrogant minority Conservative Council see fit to close care homes for elderly residents, or to hike up the cost of cremations, again something that will hit families or close relatives of the elderly.

So much for Mr Cameron’s ‘compassionate Conservatives!’ Presumably our council are reading from a different script, or maybe this is a sign of the times – what we can all expect when the Tories win the next election and Cameron is entrenched in No 10 Downing Street. Old people – whether in the few diminishing local care or nursing homes not being threatened already with closure by the over-powerful and equally arrogant Government inspection agency, CSCI, or those unfortunate enough to suffer dementia – are obviously fair game for politicians and bureaucrats, presumably because many of them either are no longer able to vote or will die soon anyway.

Recently you published a letter from someone who thought the eviction of vulnerable elderly from closed care homes (either into bed-blocking hospital wards or back into the responsibility of already stressed and struggling relatives) was justified by the saving of money.

Economics before people – a typical Thatcherite philosophy! I couldn’t help but wonder how he would have felt, if it were his parents or himself being treated like this. The indifference and penny-pinching to the care of our elderly is a national disgrace – and this Conservative council should be ashamed at targeting those most vulnerable and in need, or families of the elderly or recently deceased.

G GROOMBRIDGE, Southampton.