Saturday's Letters: Unfairness of VAT – a foreign stealth tax

There may have been a tax on luxury items previously, but VAT is now widespread.

In some Continental countries, VAT is charged on books, newspapers, children's clothes and food.

In 1972, a French finance minister explained to the House of Commons: "French people do not like paying direct taxes. It is politically inexpedient to be too strict in collecting them, so VAT was devised."

In other words, it was a system deliberately created to hide the fact that people are being taxed on goods and services.

VAT is basically unfair. Taxation should be related to income.

An article by Jonathan Reed (Yorkshire Post, June 23) is headed: "VAT increases will hit middle incomes".

Ed Balls is quoted: "Increasing VAT to 20 per cent is deeply unfair – it hits the poorest families the hardest, including pensioners..."

Rachel Reeves (Labour MP, Leeds West) writes: "The VAT increase will take 13bn out of the pockets of normal working people and small businesses."

Your editorial (Yorkshire Post, June 23) suggests that increases in revenue could be offset by a slump in consumer spending.

I offer a plausible example of unfairness. An elderly lady of limited means still lives alone in the family house. Expensive roof repairs are needed. By paying the building firm's bill, she will get a sound roof over her head. But for the VAT of 200 or more, she will get nothing.

Should citizens be penalised for keeping their property in good condition?

There is an ominous note in Jonathan Reed's article: "The Government did pledge to keep 'everyday essentials', such as food and children's clothes, free from VAT until the end of the current Parliament at

least."

From: Douglas Hartley, Irving Terrace, Clayton, Bradford, West

Yorkshire.

Free school meals for every child

From: Eamonn Ward, Sheffield Green Party.

JAMIE Oliver exposed the neglect of school dinners by successive governments over 25 years, but Health Secretary Andrew Lansley claims

the school food revolution has failed.

Plans to extend the right to free school meals to 500,000 more schoolchildren from poor backgrounds are being scrapped as another government sees them as a low-priority target for cost cutting.

The Green Party recently proposed that free school meals should be provided for every child. Schemes would use local food and local distributors, helping small businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber survive the economic downturn.

It would require government funding of 1.8bn to introduce across the UK. This would be offset by future NHS savings because children would be eating more nutritious food and be less at risk from the problems resulting from obesity, diabetes and heart disease in later life.

Spending cuts would not be needed if we scrapped Trident nuclear missiles, exited from a war that cannot be won in Afghanistan and closed massive tax loopholes exploited by the rich.

Recent research by the University of Sheffield shows how difficult it is for families to sit down and eat together at night in our modern world of flexible working.

So, ensuring children get at least one good meal a day should be a priority for any government.

Women who never retire

From: Ann Pugh, Severus Avenue, Acomb, York.

AS the recession begins to bite, the issue of raising the retirement age rears its head again.

I would question how many women actually "retire" when they retire? The answer seems to be that most do not.

Most women continue to work as housekeepers, carers, cooks, gardeners, etc until they drop.

Many thousands of women work voluntarily for charities, on committees, as school governors, as fund-raisers, as grandparents and for their churches in many ways that help their communities.

They work for many hours a week for no more than love and care for their fellows.

If all the women who sit on the innumerable committees in this country were to go on strike, the country really would be in a sorry state.

Of course, many men are as publicly-spirited but women remain the frontline carers whether they are retired or not, and no government

should underestimate their unpaid worth.

Country call to Muslims

From: Len Fincham, Warrels Road, Bramley, Leeds.

YET again, the media is full of resident Muslims complaining of discrimination at airports here and abroad, particularly in the US, individually picked out for inspections from mixed international

flights.

Of course, this is extremely embarrassing, but necessary.

They haven't apparently realised their problem is their own making for possibly harbouring would-be terrorists. Indeed, our Anti Terrorist Unit is constantly thwarting possible attacks somewhere here on the homeland. Each time, Muslims are involved.

Our soldiers in Afghanistan are dying while endeavouring to put down insurgents and trying to prevent future violent actions here and on the Pakistan borders.

It would be very reassuring to all of us if our Muslims organised an anti-terrorist "Home Brigade" to flush out possible baddies, or even joined the British Army to help their origin country, Pakistan.

This, of course, is pie in the sky for should Pakistan be in danger, they will return there rather than support their adopted or naturalised country, Britain.

To prevent discrimination, join us or leave us.

Why Thatcher was right to sell council houses

From: BJ Cussons, Curly Hill, Ilkley.

KEITH Nunn's letter (Yorkshire Post, July 2) awoke many memories and also illustrated how people react so differently to events.

Although a strong supporter of Margaret Thatcher, I, too, was uneasy about the proposal to sell council houses.

How wrong I was. Prior to that, council houses had deteriorated year after year as local authorities could not keep up with the expense of modernising them and, often very capable, tenants would do nothing themselves "because it isn't my property".

Within a very short space of time of being sold, council houses in identifiable groups took a turn for the better and became a credit to the area.

Another memory was how council houses emerged in the first place – family stories abound how grandfather and his uncle built low-cost "subsidy" housing at the end of the First World War, primarily for those whose most active years had been spent in serving their country. I believe post-Second World War, the emphasis was the same. What happened subsequently?

A change in moral standards meant more and more houses were needed to accommodate split families. The original proper concern for a minority of unmarried mothers grew into a huge demand from those who got housing rights without exhibiting any responsibility to society. Then, ultimately, migrants were handed property paid for by taxpayers as a "human right".

Meanwhile, the world moved on. We lost much of our precious textile trade with the onset of man-made fibres. We could only run our mining industry with impossible subsidies. Most of our manufacturing lost out to low-cost labour, high-population countries.

It is not Mrs Thatcher who should be criticised. She gave people opportunities – for education, home and car ownership.

What have we done with those benefits?

From: MD Hellawell, Cross Lane, Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

KEITH Nunn couldn't have expressed my thoughts better on Peter Neal's letter (Yorkshire Post, June 29).

Much of what is wrong with society came as a result of Margaret Thatcher's policies and "no such thing as society" statement – which should be carved on her gravestone.

UK should resist EU demand

From: MK O'Sullivan, Victoria Street, Allerton Bywater, Castleford.

DAVID Wright's letter (Yorkshire Post, July 6) on the Prime Minister's stance on European policy is timely and should make many Conservative MPs and voters take notice.

One particular issue which will show if Cameron is as good as his word is the demand of the EU Commission to vet member nations budgets before being revealed to national parliaments.

Cameron has said that he will resist this demand. I hope so. By any yardstick, Parliament is supreme in taxation and budgetary issues.

Counting cost of crop circles

From: Mrs A Goodall, Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe, Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

I AM writing about the crop circles seen from the top of Sutton Bank.

It has to be said that the creation of such hackneyed spectacles are the result of mindless vandalism, no doubt amusing the perpetrators and sightseers who have no thought for the financial loss to the farmer (some 2,000-3,000 in this instance) on whose land they have trespassed and caused criminal damage.

I wonder what their reaction would be to an equally mindless display of vandalism on their own property?

When will the urbanites realise that the countryside is actually the farmer's workplace, not just a weekend playground?

Barren title

From: Jack Kinsman, Stainton Drive, Grimsby.

I FIND it disgusting (Yorkshire Post, July 9) that John Prescott has become Baron Prescott of Kingston-upon-Hull after accepting a peerage.

He is already barren – barren of worth, barren of principle and barren of any form of common decency.

He should really be called Baron Prescott of Sheer Hypocrisy.