I THINK it surprised some to see a Labour Party stall in Marlborough High Street on Saturday morning, but we had a great response.

Nearly 100 people signed our petition to Stop the Tax Credit Cuts and many more stopped to chat.

We also recruited four more new members.

The tax credit cuts, being proposed by this Government, are yet another vicious assault on low-income families.

In her column (October 29) Claire Perry argued that under the benefit changes “a typical family with someone working full-time on the minimum wage will be £2,400 better off by 2020” .

Claire Perry should read her own government reports.

In its report, the Work and Pensions Committee calculated that a single earner with two children working 35 hours will increase their net income by £323 a year under the National Living Wage, but will lose £1,701 in tax credit cuts, leaving the family £1,378 worse off overall.

In the same column, on the same issue, Claire Perry argued that: “For me the saddest part of the whole debate is the extent to which our church leaders rarely welcome progress.”

It might surprise Claire Perry to know that some of our most respected church leaders are speaking out on the tax credit cuts, not because they don’t welcome progress, but because they don’t want us to be taken back to the 19th century.

SYLVIA CARD, Vice chairman, Devizes Constituency Labour Party