TOM WILLIAMS,
Sir - In his column of January 16th, Vincent Browne again castigates the Labour Party, this time for the five budgets for which it "had responsibility" between 1992 and 1997. These, he alleges benefited the rich more than the poor. So the other parties in these two coalitions were, apparently, not responsible - only Labour!
While it is widely held that this budget imbalance between rich and poor has been in effect since 1997 it is very debatable whether this was the case for the previous five years and even if it was it must have been to a much lesser extent. The McCreevy, PD, Thatcherite fiscal axis took power in 1997.
Your columnist also refers to the "millions of euros" which will be spent by political parties in the coming election. This is a sweeping generalisation which does not discriminate between the spending of the three main parties.
The reason for this omission is obvious to at least one reader; it would put Labour in a favourable light and this would not suit Vincent Browne. While on the subject of election funds he omits to mention Fianna Fáil's raising the spending limits at elections so that its affluent cronies can give it more money to buy the next election. He seems to be developing a soft spot for Fianna Fáil. He also forgets all about Denis O'Brien's contributions of £50,000 to each of the three main parties and the fact that Labour sent back the cheque, unlike the other two parties.
We are continually being told about the increasing scepticism of the electorate about political parties and what a bad thing this trend is for our country. Your columnist seems to be hell-bent on making things worse by promoting the fiction that there is no party in the Dáil worth voting for - they are all the same! We could do with some attempt at balance from Vincent Browne, especially when he writes about the Labour Party, - Yours, etc.,
TOM WILLIAMS, Goldenbridge Avenue, Dublin 8.