I have to say how splendid J R Stevens' letter is - concise, to the point and very much the truth.

money that is currently being directed towards the mortgages of released prisoners could be far better spent on providing nursing care for the many hundreds (if not thousands) of elderly people who are trapped in hospitals.

My father, who, like a lot of other people of his generation, fought through the Second World War and then worked in one factory for 48 years, is now degenerating in a hospital ward.

The staff there are magnificent but it is completely the wrong environment for my father, who is rapidly deteriorating.

Come on, Tony Blair, start directing the money to those who have contributed, not to those who are only too happy to sit back and take.

-Mrs Marie Brooks, Coldean