ANDREW Panero replies (December 10) to my letter of November 29, suspecting that I am a tool of Tory intrigue against public sector employees. I confess that I believed, like many people, that council staff retire at 60 “at the latest’’. Largely because so many do take early retirement.

Andrew says that council staff suffer “enormous stress’’. “Enormous’’ numbers of council staff taking paid sick leave for “stress’’, could show how defenceless Council taxpayers are. Defenceless against “producer capture’’, whereby local councils enjoy a monopoly. A monopoly over the provision of services (such as schools and old peoples’ homes) to most people in their localities. Which leads to tragedies like Baby P, over which no council staff lost their pensions. And Andrew then said that the public sector employment is not sheltered employment!

Ralph Prothero.