THERE is far too much emphasis on cost-cutting in the public sector. As a result, vital services like benefits and tax, that used to be administered locally have been moved away and centralised. It’s now anybody’s guess where they are.

Vital hospital departments have been closed down, or moved miles away from the people who need them. Hospital cleaning has been contracted out to the cheapest bidder.

As for accessibility – and much else – the police might as well not exist.

I have no doubt such costcutting endangers lives and causes immense suffering.

I suppose the reason behind it all is that politicians and senior civil servants lead a charmed life – and that’s why their mentality is so alien to ours.

Anyone who views public services primarily in terms of profit margins is a moral imbecile.

Tony Kelly, Crook.