Austerity measures - Wrong choices are being made - Your Letters

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Austerity measures - Wrong choices are being made

Published on 07/11/2012 11:17

Firstly I should congratulate you on the revamp of your paper.

The new format is very clear and has an up to date feel to it which I am sure will be appreciated by local people.

Last week’s thoughtful leader (‘Harsh times – but who for?’) highlights the absurdity of the coalition ‘We’re all in it together’ claim.

The current austerity measures target public, notably welfare spending, as opposed to an overhaul of the taxation system which would allow a more equitable sharing of the burden.

The attack on the disabled and other vulnerable people is supported by widely publicised tales of fraud, whereas the Government’s own statistics show that a mere 0.7 per cent of benefit payments (one billion pounds) are due to fraud. Tax evasion by individuals and corporations is estimated by HMRC at some thirty five billion pounds.

Giving a £42,000 a year tax break to millionaires and spending three billion pounds on an unpopular reorganisation of the National Health Service at the expense of properly funding local authorities to support the disabled, are other examples of the wrong choices being made by the coalition.

Our county council leader is complicit in this attack, rather than working to protect the local people she ‘represents’.

Your leader rightly draws attention to our democratic rights to express our views on this – the people of Burgess Hill have already done this by electing two Labour councillors this year.

This is the start of a fight for social justice to stop the Coalition plans to demolish the social protection system which is the hallmark of a decent society.

Councillor David Andrews,

Oak Hall Park,

Burgess Hill

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Austerity measures - Wrong choices are being made

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