In reply to the first comment one, regarding why the project did not go to a facility in Stoke, the answer is the best place to make it is in Peterborough, less than an hour's commute from my studio in West London. I do not relish a three-hour one-way journey to Stoke.

Besides, Midas and myself work as an established family and team. We previously created Power Rhythm on the Eye roundabout, and Midas have an empathy with my designs and my hands-on activity when making large scale sculptures.

Point four, regarding Midas putting their skills to something better, there is nothing better than getting your teeth into a dynamic project as this. Having trained in welding, engineering practice, and metal working, it is not as though I have little understanding of Midas Technologies, and their skills. My sculpture pushes the standard boundaries of metal manipulation practice, and Midas craftsmen are experts in this field in understanding my ideas.

As an athlete practices each day to maintain fitness and go forwards that bit more, so myself and Midas push ahead on my demanding projects. The reason? to attain higher standards and solve greater challenges as they arise, simple!
Robert Erskine
Sculptor

Related: Sculpture is monument to skills of Peterborough workers, 1 October 2008.

'I'm not a city banker' Mr Knowles

Your correspondent and vice chairman of Peterborough Labour Party Mr Knowles is apparently unwilling to face up to his own party's abysmal record on welfare dependency, worklessness and poverty (ET Letters, October 2) prefering instead to write misleading things about my background.

For the record, I have never been a "City banker" and what difference would it make if I had been? Tired class war nonsense from Labour, as usual.

Gordon Brown's record on employment has been based on migrant labour and clever use of statistics. In the 12th year of this Labour government, youth unemployment is higher than in 1997, more than five million people of working age languish on out of work benefits. Under Labour, the same number of people have no qualifications at all and last year the growth in employment was the lowest in Europe with the exception of Hungary and Portugal and since 1997, 80 per cent of new jobs in this country have been taken by foreigners.

Uncontrolled mass immigration has exacerbated and entrenched welfare dependency.

The UK also has the highest number of children living in workless households in the whole of the EU and the number of the very poorest children in society has increased in the Blair/Brown years.

A Conservative government would encourage private sector and voluntary groups to deliver welfare to work programmes, would assess every individual's needs and barriers to work, would create more workplace apprenticeships and focus especially on youngsters not in education, employment or training (NEETs) as well as establishing a Community Learning Fund for under-skilled adults.

All these plans would make a big impact in Peterborough, where we have lost good high-skilled and well-paid jobs in the last few months and welfare rolls have risen inexorably.

Labour have talked a good game and have had their chance to change things for the better but have given us a "something for nothing" culture.

In this and so many areas, the British people have had enough of a failing, incompetent fag end government.

David Cameron will provide the change Britain needs.
Stewart Jackson
MP for Peterborough