Letters To The Editor
Letters To The Editor is the online edition of Hear All Sides, the daily letters page from The Northern Echo.
Labour
CASH-STRAPPED Chancellor
Alistair Darling now borrows £2.7bn
to try and repel the justified public
onslaught against Labour's 10p tax
band own goal.
This helps many millions of
people affected by the disastrous tax
move, but still leaves 1.1 million of
the poorest worse off financially.
However, the sting is in the tail of
this calamitous move by Mr Darling
- he will now have to claw back this
unexpected £2.7bn expenditure in
next spring's Budget.
This Budget will fall before a
major round of Euro elections. As
has been pointed out by HAS
readers, local or European issues are
often forgotten about and people
vote on the merits of the
Government party which is
performing badly.
If Mr Darling puts more tax on
fags, pints and fuel, Labour will
again be punished by the working
classes' shift towards the
nationalists. If he increases higher
bands of tax, the middle class will
swing more to the Conservatives.
Labour's tenure in Parliament is
suffering a lingering death. I hope
the Brown/Darling double act stays
at the helm of this rudderless ship
as long as is possible - until it sinks
to the bottom of the ocean.
Mark Anderson, Middleton St
George, near Darlington.
THE Chancellor's remark that the
10p tax fiasco "could have been
handled better" must rate as one of
the greatest understatements of all
time.
His attempt at damage limitation
this week will still leave vast
numbers of hard-working people out
of pocket and is nothing short of a
by-election (Crewe and Nantwich)
bribe.
Most of us agree that the tax
system would benefit from
transparency and simplification, but
this must not come at the expense of
the lower paid. No longer can
Labour claim to be the party for
"social justice".
Edward Legard, Conservative
Parliamentary Candidate,
Darlington.
8:32am Friday 16th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: David Lacey, Newcastle on 8:43am Fri 16 May 08
Whilst agrreing wholeheartedly with the above sentiments, I'm still waiting to hear what the Tories would do in the way of tax cuts to help the poorly paid. It seems to me that they are "frit" to make such an announcement as labour will then accuse them of cutting expenditure on schools 'n hospitals. Have the guts to say that you are going to slash the bloated civil service and you will win more support than you could possibly imagine Mr Legard.
Whilst agrreing wholeheartedly with the above sentiments, I'm still waiting to hear what the Tories would do in the way of tax cuts to help the poorly paid. It seems to me that they are "frit" to make such an announcement as labour will then accuse them of cutting expenditure on schools 'n hospitals. Have the guts to say that you are going to slash the bloated civil service and you will win more support than you could possibly imagine Mr Legard.
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