Dear Editor,

I am very grateful to Jesse Norman for responding, and to the Gazette and all who have encouraged this wider debate about welfare, which ultimately is about how we value and look after each other.

Engagement is a crucial part of a meaningful democracy, and it is surely better to listen to dissenting voices than ignore them.

Jesse knows perfectly well that questioning government policies is not an attack on him, and that we both have a duty, as public servants, to advocate for those who we represent or care for.

The NHS chief executive, Simon Stevens, has pointed out that the NHS can no longer do everything that is being asked of it, and called for the government to honour the commitment to increase NHS funding by the £350m a week we were promised.

120,000 excess deaths so far due to austerity is an epidemic, and these policies are making people more vulnerable at a time when, increasingly, we lack the resources to respond.

I have the utmost respect for Jesse’s commitment and ability, which is why he needs to be leading on this.

Dr Simon Lennane

Ross-on-Wye