October 30: George Osborne has dug himself a deep hole over tax credits

THE BBC asserts that the political/constitutional row over tax credits is “a hole of George Osborne’s making”. I agree and it contradicts the promise by the Prime Minister prior to the General Election that tax credits would not be reduced. “Say one thing then do another,” seems an apt political motto.

Osborne’s equation in simplistic terms is cut welfare expenditure and increase wages to compensate. However, it seems clear that for very many low paid, especially one parent families who may or may not be working, the consequences could result in serious poverty. Also for many small businesses, a statutory increase in wages could have a devastating effect.

In the Autumn Statement, we will see how the Chancellor intends getting out of his “hole”.

From: Nat Wendel, Land of Green Ginger, Hull.

WITH only one third of the Parliamentary seats here, Conservatives should remember they have no electoral mandate in Yorkshire so criticising the House of Lords for being undemocratic could backfire.

From: Barry Foster, High Stakesby, Whitby.

BRILLIANT, the House of Lords has made the right decision for once and restored my faith in human nature again. All those who supported the Government on the tax credits issue ought to try living off a minimum wage.

Enough said!

From: Canon Michael Storey, Healey Wood Road, Brighouse.

LIKE many people, I have been amused at the debate on the expected savings coming from the proposed changes to the distribution of tax credits. Watching George Osborne’s embarrassed face on TV, thanks to the House of Lords bringing some sense into this debate, has added to the amusement. This and other planned cuts were meant to reduce the huge national debt, now £1,441 trillion.

If we are all “in this together”, surely the fairer way to reduce the national debt would be by raising income tax, hence spreading the load more fairly? Or is that too simple?

From: David Temple, Walton Park. Harrogate.

WITH regard to the defeat of George Osborne by the Lords over the tax credits issue, it seems that Mr Osborne is angry, and thinks that the will of an elected Parliament has been frustrated. It is worth pointing out that of the enfranchised electorate, only 24.4 per cent actually voted for the Conservatives. Moreover such a move was not in the Tory manifesto and Mr Cameron had prior to the election categorically promised that tax credits would not be altered. Mr Osborne has no right to be angry about this. It is time he was taken down a peg or two and the Lords were right to do so.

EU is abusive relationship

From: Les Arnott, Athelstan Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

AS a former JP, I am all too well aware of the horrors of domestic violence, consequently, I do not make the analogy below at all lightly.

I see the European Union as being like that bullying husband who tries to make a cowed wife devalue herself. She feels that she cannot cope without him, makes herself subservient to him, fails to see her alternatives while he makes her submissive.

We are entirely capable of running our own affairs – we have no need whatsoever for this union whether it be: for trade, jobs, justice, peace or national development. Our bullying spouse and all its toadying acolytes are, most emphatically, not on our side. They will browbeat, mislead, deceive and lie. (They have been so doing just that since the 1975 referendum).

As with so many scam merchants, they talk in generalisations and paint word pictures of doom but are unable to provide examples of positives which we could not have achieved for ourselves. We are one of the great economic forces in the world. We should have confidence in our abilities to prosper away from this nasty, corrupt, inefficient, inward-looking, bureaucratic, imperialistic, power-mad drain on our resources.

Our last line of defence

From: Malcolm Parkin, Kinnesswood, Kinross.

POLITICIANS who wish to abandon Trident should reflect on the millions of people who have turned out this summer to watch the final flights of Vulcan XH558 – the last 1960s example of our legendary “V” force of nuclear bombers. It might remind them that providing defence is the first and most appreciated duty of government.

Where are regulators?

From: Malcolm Wright, Grove Road, Harrogate.

THE magazine Which? claim that registering with the Telephone Preference Service stops nuisance calls (The Yorkshire Post, October 26). I registered 10 years ago and still they come.

Did I contact Ofcom? I tried, but after button-pushing and music, gave up. Yet again I ask if they and the other supposed “regulators” actually exist. From the public’s perspective, are they not simply another Westminster fiction, whose utter devotion is to those against whom they are supposed to guard us?