WITH regard to rural issues in the October 13 edition of the Guardian.

My Uncle Jim didn't think Jobseekers Allowance was a disgrace, because he never had it.

He lost a hard manual job at 66 and retrained for another occupation, which he did until he was 68, and died before he was 69.

He had six children and three grandchildren, looked after his own mum and dad in the home and managed all his life on what he earned. He didn't know what inheritance meant and if he had been down to the last crumb on his plate, his beloved dog would have received it.

He'd never have abandoned any living creature and he thought the world of his wife, who never had a holiday, never had a car and toiled from dawn till dusk.

They could remember their own parents, laid off work week after week, but they managed honestly, quietly, and took pride in what they did and what they had.

That's all they asked and all they died with.

JACK EVANS

Address supplied.

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