IT is very noble and praiseworthy of Blair and Brown to try and alleviate poverty in the Third World but wouldn't it be better to practise what they preach in their own country first?

A recent official report stated that there are one and quarter million pensioners in this country living below the poverty line and one million pensioners suffering from malnutrition.

It seems very arrogant to tell the rest of the world how to deal with poverty if they have failed to deal with pensioner poverty at home. It was us who elected them, not the Africans. It will be us who will vote them out, not the Africans.

JOHN CUNNIFFE,

Malvern.