Don’t put business taxes up Rishi Sunak, cut overseas aid budget instead – Yorkshire Post Letters

IT was with horror and disbelief that I heard rumours that the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is contemplating punishing British businesses, large and small, by increasing taxes on them in order to pay for the fiscal losses that the Government has encountered during the pandemic (The Yorkshire Post, August 31).

To punish businesses at this time, when they have been at the forefront of our battle against the effects of the virus, is nothing short of lunacy.

Many business owners have been driven to desperation by Government-imposed closures, losing both customers and revenue through no fault of their own.

My advice to the Chancellor would be not to punish British businesses but instead take the monies you need from our foreign aid budget, which incidently costs about £14bn every year or 0.7 per cent of our gross national income.

It is appalling to be sending our hard earned tax contributions to overseas countries, whilst we here in Britain are desperate for those monies to be spent on our wonderful NHS, and on the poor and disadvantaged citizens within our own society.

From: Stewart Harper, Barfield Drive, Yeadon.

COUNCILLOR Nigel Boddy (The Yorkshire Post, August 30) bemoans the expansion of universities over the last 25-30 years, and connects this with an apparent drop in standards. He ignores the fact that A-level results have gone up consistently over many years (excluding this year where results are not easily comparable) – not a reduction in standards but an increase in the quality of teaching in our schools.

He ignores the fact that record proportions of children from disadvantaged backgrounds are now able to take advantage of a higher education. And he ignores the fact that universities are no longer constrained, and so students have a wider choice on the institutions to which they can apply. A return to a centralised system would be a huge detriment.

Young people deserve the best possible opportunity to use their talents to the full. Education is transformational – let’s not restrict it to the privileged few.

From: Hilary Andrews, Nursery Lane, Leeds.

FIRST it was the teachers’ union and now the university lecturers not wanting students back. Do these academics really want our young people to be educated?

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today.

Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers.

So, please - if you can - pay for our work. Just £5 per month is the starting point. If you think that which we are trying to achieve is worth more, you can pay us what you think we are worth. By doing so, you will be investing in something that is becoming increasingly rare. Independent journalism that cares less about right and left and more about right and wrong. Journalism you can trust.

Thank you

James Mitchinson