"ARE you sinking like we're sinking", Donald Leach's letter just about summed up the performance of the Labour Party Conference.

While Gordon Brown's closing speech may have been strong and well delivered, words are no longer enough without the right action's.

The whole packaged conference was as expected.

With sick bucket and violin at the ready, not forgetting the calming cup of tea, I listened intently.

Labour ministers one by one played their part, not only in favour of their leader, but of each other saying they all were the right party for the job.

It was like watching the back-stabbers making a last ditch attempt to change the mind of the captain, to give them the last life-boat off the Titanic.

After quickly filling up the sick bucket, I then reached for the violin as a good few ministers reeled off the usual rhetoric of " You know, I met little Johnny the other day" to "I was talking to a poorly pensioner" the fairy stories, hearts and strings, continued.
After emptying the bucket once again, up pops Neil Kinnock's wife.

She thanked Labour, then quickly turned to her husband telling the conference of how proud she was of her husband and how much he had done for the people of this country, while he sat with tears of joy running down his cheeks.

At this point my sick bucket was no longer adequate, I had to dash for the dustbin.

Now that this painful conference is over we are told labour's ratings have risen a little.

Did this conference do it for me? Frankly, no.

Far more apologies were needed than back-patting.

This situation is going on, up and down this country by the week.
How dare they blame us for this mess?

Brown as former chancellor and now Prime Minister, organised mass lending to improve council homes, when he kicked them into the kerb a few years ago.

This latest crisis as Churchill would have put it: "Never before in the field of the economy has so few bungling captatlists done so badly for so many."

Both Churchill and Bevan must be reeling in their graves.

Labour tried to reinvent the wheel that these two former great men set in motion and it did stand the test of time, it's now no longer turning.

Now that the back-patting, fairy stories hearts and strings is now over, it's a relief.

H Terry