It's all right for comfortably off people such as David Cameron to say: "There's more to life than money".

Try telling that to the growing legions of lone parents struggling to bring up children. Or those pensioners living on the minimum income guarantee.

Or those who live on the basic wage.

Has he never heard the saying, "He who says money doesn't bring happiness just doesn't know where to shop."

If he had in mind "happiness" economists such as Professors Oswald and Layard, they do say money helps up to a point. With the benefit of many years of hindsight, I now believe the popular foundations of happiness such as wealth, fame and administrative power could well be illusory and interests, health and human relations provide a much sounder basis. Nevertheless, I am quite aware how much these goals are affected by money.

If the Government is open to one criticism it is that, while the country is undoubtedly much wealthier, the yawning gap between rich and poor remains.

If David Cameron is sincere in his pat pronouncement about "general wellbeing", let us hope he'll soon produce detailed proposals which will allow the patient poor a chance to show what they can do by preventing the wealthiest from continuing to get ever more more wealthy.

Thus may we create a society which is united and contented and make it easier for its members to develop integrated and robust personalities.

-RG Jenkins, Hove