Readers' letters - May 15

Raise all taxes to pay for our public services

I accuse all major political parties for at least 40 years of misleading the public.

Whether by deliberate lies, oversight, or not understanding the problem, they have failed to finance public services, in particular the health and education sectors.

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Margaret Thatcher tried to sell off the national assets and even managed to convince people to buy shares in businesses they already owned.

One-off gains don’t change the funding issues.

This has gone on until today when bits of the NHS and education sectors are being privatised.

In the end, this will only cost more because of profit funding.

The next step was to invent new taxes.

Sorry but the only way to pay for the current mess is for all mainline taxes to be raised.

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Income tax and corporation tax basic rate should be raised by say two per cent.

National Insurance should go up by one per cent for both employees and employers, self-employed by two per cent.

The Government should stop messing with benefits and reduce them by two per cent across the board.

I can’t think of any politician who has the guts to agree with me and is willing to say so publicly.

David Collins

via email

A medieval ‘punishment’

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So Prime Minister Theresa May wants to bring back fox hunting. Apparently foxes are a ‘pest’ say the pro-hunt brigade.

Now, some people may say burglars are also ‘pests’. Like foxes, they intrude into someone’s property and take something from the householder (although foxes do this to feed themselves or their young). So according to pro-hunters’ logic, should we then also have a pack of red-coated individuals on horseback with foxhounds chasing after convicted burglars and then, once the exhausted burglar has ran for miles, kill him (or her) in a vicious way.

What? You say that is a medieval punishment?

That we wouldn’t have such a barbaric, nasty punishment in the 21st century?

But we do have such a medieval ‘punishment’ for a fellow sentient being. I say fox hunting has no place in modern society.

Jane via email

Dangers of social media

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I heard of a recent incident where passers-by shouted at a young woman to jump to her death from a multi-storey car park.

It isn’t that hard to guess what was going on.

Social media, like Facebook Live, Instagram, YouTube, are pernicious and can even be dangerous in the wrong hands.

We read about other cases of people urging someone to jump so they can record it for social media – and I suspect the same is true here.

Some culprits are young – and some are not so young –but all share the same lack of any moral foundation.

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Cyber bullying isn’t just online – it can spill over into ‘real life’ – with potentially tragic effects.

CCTV of the incident needs to be studied and the culprits dealt with.

Richard Tandy

Address

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No cheques? No donation then

I have just had to withdraw from giving money to another well known charity for starving people abroad, all because they will now only accept direct debit.

I used to send postal orders, then cheques, but they won’t accept my preferred method. Those who will accept cheques will now get more because of this.

A Hague

Address supplied