IT IS very disappointing that our MP, John Glen, was not one of those MPs that took the Chancellor to task over his proposed tax credit reforms that are going to make many vulnerable people in his own constituency worse off.

The system of tax credits may well need reform but the issue is how they are reformed and whether those reforms lead to a fairer and more just society.

Unfortunately, this government is gaining a reputation for punishing the most vulnerable in the pursuit of fiscal prudence.

Witness the massive growth in food banks and increases in homeless people living on the streets due to the withdrawal of government funding.

Thankfully, many of his own MPs are sufficiently concerned about the nature of the reforms to seriously question the Chancellor over the issue. Unfortunately for his constituents, John Glen was not one of them. This issue seems to be one which has generated much debate about the direction of economic policy.

Hopefully, pressure from those who are concerned to build an economy which is fiscally sustainable whilst at the same time fair and addresses the growing inequality in our country will lead to a review of this ill-advised policy.

DR MARK POTTS Salisbury