WHERE exactly is the political opposition in this country?

We have severe economic problems in this country which we blame on the previous Labour government but only an imbecile would presume that our current situation would be any different if there had been a Tory government for the past 13 years.

I don’t recall the Tory opposition calling for greater control on banks, defence spending, less borrowing or calling for fewer public employees.

As for the Liberal Democrats, they seemed to have principles when in opposition, such as being against the war for oil in Iraq or the war for gas pipelines in Afghanistan, both of which undoubtedly resulted in far higher energy bills for us all.

So which party believes that the railways should be renationalised?

Compare this country with Germany, which last week announced it was on course for its strongest growth in decades.

Their main railway system is the state-owned Deutsche Bahn. Back in April this year, Deutsche Bahn agreed a £1.59bn deal to buy Arriva, one of Britain’s biggest train and bus firms. I hope Baroness Thatcher doesn’t get to read this.

Annual season tickets for journeys from 11 to 25 miles cost about £1,860 in Britain but only £944 in Germany – and that was before last week’s announcement on future increases here.

We already have the highest rail fares in Europe and the most expensive railway, which although private, taxpayers still have to subsidise to the tune of £5bn a year.

Then we come to defence. This country is third in the world for spending after the US and China.

Why? Why are we spending £70bn a year fighting in the US’ oil and gas wars?

Fine, it makes sense for gas, oil, petrol and arms companies – their profits have boomed.

Why can Germany spend 33 per cent less on defence and still run a strong and safe economy?

Why are we still pretending to be the world’s police force?

So which of our political parties is calling for a drastic reduction in defence spending, not just the tinkering announced last week, now that the Lib Dems have been Toryised? All you can hear is the tumble weed.

Finally I have a suggestion to help cover the deficit, a windfall tax on Tony Blair.

R LEE (Mr), Burford Road, Witney