Martin Kettle highlights the political significance of the upcoming finances and the difficulties dealing with Rachel Reeves because the Labour authorities considers the prospect of getting to extend revenue tax (Rachel Reeves is damned if she raises revenue tax within the finances – and damned if she doesn’t, 6 November).
If Labour will get punished on the subsequent election, it will not be due to a single damaged electoral promise; it can extra possible be as a result of the citizens doesn’t belief that there’s a coherent, efficient plan for governing.
I’m not satisfied that within the UK now we have any better tendency to “possessive individualism” at this time, regardless of Thatcher’s declaration in 1987 that “there isn’t a such factor as society”. That mentioned, I’m positive many would settle for the necessity to contribute extra to the collective good if the federal government was clearer about its plans, demonstrated a willingness to stay to the duty in hand, and adopted a extra thought of method to the allocation of public cash.
By way of mitigating the fallout from tax rises, it’s potential that the federal government would possibly obtain a greater response if it have been to focus extra on readability of goal and the collective advantages of well-funded public providers, moderately than counting on divisive catchphrases corresponding to, “these with the broadest shoulders ought to pay their fair proportion”.Prof Stephen CaddickWorthing, West Sussex
Martin Kettle fails to say two different long-lasting impacts of Thatcherism. Throughout my time as deputy chief of the Labour group at Cambridgeshire county council, from 1985 to 1989, we confronted an assault on native authorities, a punitive method to native decision-making and, in the long run, the elimination of autonomy over setting the enterprise fee. For each additional £1 we wished to spend, we have been “fined” £3 in misplaced grant, so needed to increase the charges by £4 to spend an additional £1.
Second, the privatisation of instantly supplied providers, which moved a complete technology of public servants dedicated to serving the frequent good into the personal sector to be “wealth creating” entrepreneurs.
I used to be lucky to work alongside a improvement company dedicated to serving the frequent good, which, between 1970 and 1988, constructed 26,306 homes, of which 15,312 (58%), have been social housing.Brian KeeganPeterborough
The media obsession with Labour getting ready to “break manifesto guarantees” is childish (Rachel Reeves refuses to rule out tax rises as autumn finances looms, 4 November). It’s contemptuous of the voting public, very like a five-year-old who screams “however you promised” when their mum, having promised to take the kid to the park, determined to not as a result of it began to rain. The federal government ought to be recommended for being versatile sufficient to alter course, if solely to mitigate the upheavals led to by the present US administration.Fawzi IbrahimLondon
If the chancellor needs to scale back family power payments for the much less nicely off (Reeves considers lower to inexperienced levies in effort to scale back value of power payments, 4 November), there’s a easy technique to do it. Abolish every day standing costs and bundle infrastructure prices into the utilization costs. Then those that economise through the use of little or no power can pay much less, common customers can pay a lot the identical, and lavish customers can pay simply a small share extra.Nick FloyerChiswick, London
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