My complaint to the Ombudsman concerning the Tory Councillors' decision to close the Stanwell and Benwell Elderly Day Service Centres has done well to reach Stage Three, the semi-final.

But of necessity, it has had to be on procedural grounds.

The Ombudsman is not a kind of local government House of Lords. Any party political complaint will not be entertained. The complainant will be directed to the ballot box, and rightly so. Even on the narrow ground of procedural defects only am I confident of stopping the closures.

Nonetheless, the 35 Tory councillors who intend to inflict costly and painful isolation on a whole generation, demonstrate their completely blinkered response.

Day Centres are the bedrock of the struggling pensioner, in Britain and elsewhere.

For just one pound on a council tax demand, warmth, light, food, shelter and companionship are provided.

All over Europe, Japan, Australia, the U.S and Canada, birth rates are falling and life expectancy is rising. Thus economists say pension levels are "unaffordable and growing more so.' There are remedies.

The problem is, all run into insuperable opposition: - Massive increases in income tax - Allow pensioner poverty to return - Raise the retirement age - Encourage mass immigration - young workers to counter the falling birth rate.

Not one local Conservative Councillor even mentioned this looming background.

Of course, a more attractive local suggestion would be to cut the pay of the councillors.

Harold Trace Spelthorne Labour Party Staines