One of the many thoughtful sayings of years gone by, 'Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit', comes over in many of the letters you publish.

It would do many of us good to consider how fortunate we are, compared with many of our parents.

My own poor mum died when she was not much over 40 and I was 11 in 1935.

There was no National Health Service then and unless you had real money, there was very little chance of you being taken into hospital and staying alive.

She died without even enjoying her grandchildren as my wife has.

Winston Churchill made a big contribution to us winning the last war, but many of us ex-servicemen and women and others decided that as good a war leader as he had been, we did not want his lot ruining our peace again.

So, overwhelmingly, we voted in a Labour Party which made sure our disabled did not have to scratch a living off the streets, selling matches etc, and gave them the chance of employment.

From that Government came our present NHS, which I am sure would have given my mother many more years of life to enjoy, rather than dying early from an illness that was never properly attended to.

But for the caring attention of the local doctors and staff, I doubt if I would be writing this letter today.

With free prescriptions at 60, the heating allowance, free TV licence at 75 etc, we have so much more to be grateful for than our parents ever enjoyed.

But many well-housed people only want to complain if there is any danger of more houses being built near them for our still many homeless. Let's count our blessings and appreciate the party that made so much of the above possible for us all.

DARBY SUTTON (War pensioner) Cromwell Close Old Marston Oxford