Another reader's letter of the day

From the FT:

Sir, Gideon Rachman’s article on the closing of the Thatcher era (April 28) makes an interesting claim that "Thatcherism has lost the moral high ground" on the basis that the link between "virtuous effort and just reward" has been destroyed through the likes of Sir Fred Goodwin.

Surely the lesson of the last decade could equally be drawn from the spectacle of the British people living beyond their means, encouraged by ever-rising house prices and fuelled by excessive borrowing bestowed on them by improperly regulated banks.

All this with the tacit approval of a government that viewed unsustainable debt-fuelled growth as the end of "boom and bust" and a means to finance excessive public spending, apparently without pain or consequence. A "something for nothing" society, surely?

Time to rediscover "traditional values", methinks.

Aidan Clegg, Cobham, Surrey, UK.