IN current political thinking, when a citizen reaches old age he/she switches from being an asset to a liability.

No matter the taxes extracted over a working lifetime and even into retirement or that you have paid National Insurance, which was supposed to fund your welfare, it appears care for the elderly and infirm in England has now become a financial burden.

Our masters ponder how to pay for the care of us trainee corpses – a total absence of financial planning I find staggering.

There never seems to be a shortage of taxpayers’ money, however, to fund wars, grossly overbudget computer systems that do not work anyway, aircraft carriers built for threats that no longer exist, the growth and cost of government bureaucracy, or the cost of the care of immigrants who have not paid in and only extract, etc.

The planning for and management of this country’s own domestic needs always seems to come second to those of some blighted country’s needs.

Can any of our political parties attempt a straight answer as to whether the care of our own population, old and young, will always take precedence over what have been the ambitions and costs to the taxpayer of successive governments to assume the role of global policeman?

Chris Greenwell, Darlington.

THE Conservatives have accused the Government of planning a £20,000 “death tax” to help pay for future social care of the country’s increasing ageing population.

The claims are based on household wealth published by the Office for National Statistics, that shows in the North-East and Yorkshire 200,000 adults would be liable and could lose more than half their life savings.

In addition, 600,000 people would face an average tax liability of more than a third of their total wealth, excluding pensions, assuming a Labour government introduces this tax if it wins the General Election.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has so far repeatedly refused to rule out a £20,000 “death tax” to pay for his uncosted social care plans. Can we please have assurances from all our sitting North-East MPs that if re-elected this year they will oppose any plans which include such draconian death taxes on all elderly adults who have worked and paid taxes throughout their working life?

Councillor Ken Walker, Independent, Middlesbrough Council.