SIR, — Following Cllr Roma Mills letter (Herts Advertiser, November 13) in reply to mine published in the previous week s issue, I should like to close my side of the debate on local health inequalities by suggesting that realistically, nothing can be exp

SIR, - Following Cllr Roma Mills letter (Herts Advertiser, November 13) in reply to mine published in the previous week's issue, I should like to close my side of the debate on local health inequalities by suggesting that realistically, nothing can be expected to change in the foreseeable future.

It is evident from her letter that Cllr Mills can do no more than express her verbal "concern" over the inequalities she has mentioned. She tacitly admits that little or nothing has been done to find any practical remedies while the present Government has been in power, even during the "good times" of wild budgetary excess elsewhere.

The reason for this inaction is financial and is of long standing. Labour's top brass are well aware that no electoral payback could be expected from spending money to alleviate problems in a marginal constituency like ours.

On the contrary, we must expect that resources will continue to be sucked out of St Albans, by manipulation of the council tax system, to buy support in Labour's Northern and Scottish heartlands.

DONALD S. MALKINSON,

Allandale, St Albans.