Labour deserves economic credit where it’s due | Letters

Before they indulge in any further parroting of the Tory mantra that Labour overspent (Report, 16 May), perhaps the Labour leadership candidates could ask the House of Commons library for a breakdown of the figures. They could then explain exactly which items of government expenditure, in 2007 say, they regard as an overspend. For example, the Conservatives obviously think expenditure on early learning is an overspend, or they would not have cut Sure Start; similarly spending on a decent mental health service is an overspend or provision would not have plummeted from reasonable in 2007 to terrible in 2015. In 2007 our police community support officers used to cut crime and vandalism by running activities for local young people - an overspend for Tories, apparently. Do the Labour leadership candidates share these views?

Government expenditure for 2007 would necessarily have included a large sum to pay for the Iraq occupation and to step up security after the London bombings. Robin Cook and 138 other Labour MPs, Charles Kennedy and all the Liberal Democrats, voted that there was no moral case for it; 139 Conservatives out of 154 voted the contrary, so they cannot complain that the costs represented overspending.