WE have entered the election period which will determine our fate for the next five years, and this election is long overdue and the opportunity for a change must not be missed.

This present government led by the worst Prime Minister in my experience, and I am dismayed that there appears to be any chance of this incompetent administration not to be replaced.

The most serious blunder by Tony Blair was the slogan of “education, education, education”, which resulted in 13 years of worsening results in primary and secondary schools, leading to so many children not being able to reach competence in the “Three Rs” when they leave.

At the other end of the scale was the target set by Mr Blair of 50 per cent of students qualifying for university. The failure to reach this target by a considerable margin has meant that students have been misdirected into universities when a move into skilled job training would have been more advisable, as we now have a shortage of skilled people needed to fill the needs of industry, and the university graduates being not good enough to satisfy the needs of modern industry today.

Derek Ryder Ainsworth Road Bury