My attention was drawn to an article about the shortfall between the levels of rent in Brighton and Hove and the maximum levels of housing benefit (June 24).

This is indeed a real problem that urgently needs tackling. Imagine my surprise and amusement when I realised it is the Tories who are calling for an end to this problem.

Funny - I seem to remember it was the Tories who created the problem in the first place by deregulating private-sector rents and trying to cut housing benefit at the same time.

Their constant tinkering during their last years in office created a succession of groups of claimants who lost out.

Because these people were already claiming, they had to be "protected" against the latest cut (or lose their homes).

The end product is there are now half a dozen possible ways in which private tenants' housing benefit could be calculated, depending on when they first claimed, whether they have moved, when their tenancy began and a host of other obscure factors.

The shortfall the Tories are now so concerned about is the direct result of these cuts - indeed, it was the very objective behind them.

It certainly is going to be a long, hard road for the Tories, particularly when they credit the rest of us with such little intelligence and such short memories.

-Andy Richards, Woodhouse Road, Hove