Readers' letters - May 14

When is the ‘Punish the Pensioners’ witch hunt going to end? Before anyone jumps in, I know – when you die. Last week, a spokesman for the Resolution Foundation put their idea forward that pensioners should pay more tax and young people should get a £10,000 hand-out. Just how these people come up with their stupid ideas is unbelievable. Pensioners have paid their dues, paying tax and National Insurance all their working life. They often left school at 14 or 15 years of age and worked for 50 years or more. Stop attacking them and let them live their last few years in peace. No one gave us anything, we have had to work hard for what we’ve got. I am all for giving the youngsters £10,000 but only to those that are deserving of it, only those who are in work and attempting to save and university students should be allowed to apply. Have you got any idea how much alcohol or drugs £10,000 would buy? The Government should be helping youngsters get into work. The Government must be one of the biggest employers in the country, so why are they not putting the youngsters to work? I know that many of them are not happy about being on the minimum wage, but it would get them into work and, from there, they could be looking to improve and apply for other positions, and they would be eligible for a reference from any job they have had. The motto should be “No Work, No Money” and Jobseeker’s Allowance should only be allowed for 12 months. The Government should start by banning zero-hour contracts and make agencies more responsible for the people on their books. Dave CroucherAddress supplied

Right or wrong to follow USA? Are we right or wrong to continually follow the US’s lead into perpetual wars? Every conflict that the US has become engaged with, the UK has followed. It is little known, but the UK even advised South Vietnamese President Diem through the British Advisory Mission to South Vietnam (BRIAM) in September 1961, with Robert Thompson as one of Diem’s chief advisers, who had gained tremendous experience in the 12-year-long anti-guerrilla-warfare in Malaya. Therefore the UK has, if not with boots on the ground, supported the US in its military expeditions in every major war. On the global stage, the UK has backed the US in every major war since they became the dominant power in the world. The killing and injury statistics for Vietnam were inhuman and the numbers are numbing. According to a study by Harvard Medical School and the University of Washington, there were 3.8 million violent war deaths, of which two million were civilians.If anyone has ever been to Vietnam – and I have been five times – you just cannot see how America could have bombed them, as they are a peaceful nation and highly respectful. So are we doing the right thing in always following the US lead when, in recent years, more than one million Iraqis were killed with over six million displaced fleeing to other regions (mainly Europe), 600,000 Syrians killed, with over seven million displaced to other regions (mainly to Europe again) and 500,000 Libyans displaced to other regions (mainly to Europe again)?Dr David HillWorld Innovation Foundation

Leave the older generation alone

Just heard the latest suggestions that 25-year-olds be given £10,000 to help in their circumstances, perhaps to set up a business or afford a deposit on a house etc. And that working pensioners be asked to pay more tax to provide the money, seeing that most are in a position of wealth, sitting as they are on homes which are now worth substantial sums. It seems that some members of a ‘think tank’, in this case, are hell-bent on extracting money from the old by any means. But I wonder why they think pensioners still working are doing so? Doesn’t take much to find a reason does it? They need to, the UK pension is so low!As for the mention of their greatest asset, a home, it is already in line to pay for nursing home care should the need arrive, thus sequestering the fruits of a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice which went into buying one. The phone lines have already been red hot from indignant pensioners protesting these latest suggestions. When, if ever, will they leave the older generation alone? They are sick and tired of being made the fall guys for the ills of today’s society.Ernest Lundyvia email