Tax cuts don’t make sense in ‘broke’ Britain

FOR nearly five years since the economic collapse, the coalition Government and the opposition have been telling (perhaps reluctantly) the British people the truth, i.e. Britain is broke and sacrifices will have to be made.

Now once more as election time looms we once hear the mantra “your taxes may (admittedly this is slightly different from the previous ‘will’) be cut”.

The fact is that for scores of years even as the country boomed, not sufficient tax has been paid and this has led to too much money chasing too little to buy and has led to high demand-led inflation. This inflation has been especially acute in the housing market which ultimately led to the current financial crash.

However, bad as this is, it is not the worst result of too little tax being raised. Britain’s essentials for prosperity – infrastructure – are in a mess. Roads are grid-locked and rail routes have not got sufficient capacity, leading to freight and people going nowhere fast. There are threats of power cuts, hospitals are bursting at the seams and there is a big threat that there soon will not be enough school places. I could go on.

No multi-national company with the ability and economy of scale to get Britain out of this mess (unfortunately the majority of them are foreign but that is another story) is going to put up the billions to do so unless they have a guarantee set in concrete that they will be able to get a good return on their investment and only the Government can guarantee this. The return will have to be paid by the consumer in much higher prices than would have been necessary had Britain’s infrastructure been steadily upgraded through taxation over the years.

This guaranteed return will have to be paid, whatever the future state of Britain’s economy, and could possibly lead to even more austerity than now.

Would it not be better to let the amount of tax raised rise as the economy – hopefully – improves and then the government of the day of whatever colour could directly pay or be able to afford to borrow the money to pay for the new infrastructure that is desperately needed for Britain’s future well-being, without having to go grovelling on its knees to multi-nationals?

From: Ron Firth, Woodgarth Court, Campsall, Doncaster.

THE advocates of the HS2 high speed rail scheme insist on spewing out ever-increasing billions for the benefits this will bring to the North without attempting to quantify any of it.

What is more certain is that HS2 will swallow up a very significant acreage of prime agricultural land (already in short supply and with the expectation of an extra 10 million to feed within a decade) for questionable gain.

Ministers should pay a visit to the National Railway Museum in York, Shildon and Swindon to see the pride we have in our railway industry of the Gresley era and the determination and capability there exists to take this industry forward rather than handing its future on a plate to overseas investors and engineers.

While not an advocate for nationalisation, I feel that the ECML should remain under its present management knowing that it is in competition for passengers with the private companies and, as such, must continue to maintain its present performance and look for further improvements.

Attacked on the wards

From: Diana Priestley, Fixby Road, Huddersfield.

WHY do people discharge themselves from hospital (Yorkshire Post, July 24)?

My cousin broke her shoulder in a fall. It was attended to by A&E and she was admitted to a ward overnight with her broken arm arranged as comfortable as possible.

There were four beds, one empty, one occupied by a dying patient, and the other by a mental health case who kept shouting that someone had stolen her purse.

Lights out, all quiet, when the woman yelled: “I know where my purse is.” She leapt on to my cousin and her broken shoulder.

She managed to reach the cord and summon a nurse, but after this incident she dared not sleep.

Morning came, and no-one offered her water to wash, a cup of tea to drink, or a hand to take her to the toilet.

Her husband turned up with her clothes. Between them, they dressed her. In came the nurse. “What are you doing?” she said. “Discharging myself,” said my cousin.

The nurse replied: “But you should stay here where we can look after you.”

Her reply was: “I am safe from attack and able to make a cup of tea in my own house.”

I rest my case.

Shallow pockets

From: George Scott, Finch Park, Beverley.

I HAVE just returned from my holiday in France where I watched two stages of the Tour de France.

The riders were preceded by what is known as the Caravan. This consists of as many as a hundred vehicles, half a dozen or so from each of the many sponsors, who throw out various items (I collected a cap, a fridge magnet and a condom).

The only participants in the caravan not showering the spectators with gifts were the Gendarmerie and Yorkshire 2014.