I ALWAYS read David Quarrie’s letters with interest and appreciate his strong views on everything. However, I did not put him down as a pessimist, as shown in his letter of June 14 about the state of the world in general and Britain in particular.

I am just grateful our Government had the sense to avoid joining the Eurozone – what a calamity that would have been!

Also, I can only believe that things will improve once this momentous, expensive year is over; the Queen deserves all that is spent on her Jubilee celebrations and hosting the Olympics is costing us dear, but with all that behind us, surely our fortunes can only improve.

I only wish that the NHS would direct more money to worthwhile causes, such as caring for the elderly and making a difference to the lives of vulnerable babies and children, instead of paying for unnecessary cosmetic surgery and treating the many cases of self-destructive living, ie overweight, alcoholism and drug addiction.

Also, we should be building more prisons to rid our streets of louts and gangsters who make a life a misery. Two steps forward, surely.

Heather Causnett, Escrick Park Gardens, Escrick, York.