Letters: Bereft of ideas, the entire political class is trapped in a cycle of tax and spend

SIR – Unfortunately I don’t believe Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, when she declares there would be no new wealth taxes under a Labour government (Interview, August 27). 

This is not because I think she might be lying. I am sure she understands that increasing taxes is a barrier to growth and wants to avoid being responsible for a lacklustre economy. 

No, I don’t believe her because the comprehensive failure by current politicians to display any imagination has resulted in them believing there is only one tool in the economic toolkit. Whenever they are aware of a problem, the only cause they see is a lack of money, and therefore the only solution they come up with is to spend more – requiring a rise in taxes.

Ms Reeves will likely be the same. Taxes will rise, they just won’t be called wealth taxes – even though all taxes are wealth taxes by another name. The only good that will come out of this is that we will hit “peak tax” sooner: the point at which any new tax will fail to increase overall revenue.

At that moment, politicians of all parties will be forced to confront reality and use their imaginations to work out what the state should do, what should be left to the market, and what a sustainable future for healthcare and welfare looks like. 

Only then might we begin to see some improvement in growth and productivity, which will eventually lead to increased prosperity.

Ian Mackenzie
Preston, Lancashire

SIR – Isn’t it a bit early for Rachel Reeves to announce that there will be no wealth tax if Labour forms the next government? After all, Sir Keir Starmer has more than enough time to change his mind – several times – between now and the next election.

Charles Penfold
Ulverston, Cumbria

SIR – If Labour has no intention of asking billionaires to pay a fairer share towards society through taxation, how does it differ from the present Government? 

It may claim that tackling non-domiciled residents will help the tax take, but it will not solve much at all. The only thing that will happen is that these people will spend a greater amount of their money abroad, rather than in this country. If that is all Labour has to offer as an alternative policy, voting for it seems pointless. 

We would be better served by allowing the Prime Minister to follow the policy of “steady as she goes” and providing long-term stability.

Bernard Borman
Richmond, North Yorkshire

SIR – Matthew Lynn’s article, “Bank of Mum and Dad is dragging down the economy” (August 27), reaches some back-to-front conclusions. He looks at parents helping their children as a “problem”, contributing to widening divisions in society, whereas in fact people looking after their own families should be the solution. 

If families were more self-sufficient, rather than expecting cradle-to-grave state care, we might be in a better place than we are now. I agree that the property market is dysfunctional, but encouraging more housebuilding does not mean we should discourage the most powerful, natural and beneficial human motivation: to fight for your children and help them on their way.

The Labour Party’s daft plan to put VAT on private school fees is one of many examples of the governing class trying to penalise anyone who wants to provide for themselves and their family. Why does no one try anything truly radical, like an educational voucher system, setting parents free to contribute financially towards something better? Are we so out of ideas that we must accept what we are given?

The Bank of Mum and Dad has more sense than the state – it focuses on those it cares about, and that is no bad thing.

Lauren Groom
Salisbury, Wiltshire

Food to fight a war on 

SIR – Richard Allen (Letters, August 27) is quite right to highlight the value of communal regimental living and to express his disappointment that modern soldiers frequently eat outside the camp.

In the early 2000s, single soldiers were fed in barracks by military chefs using funds that were compulsorily deducted directly from soldiers’ pay. Today they are principally fed in barracks by contractors who charge the soldiers only for what they eat – but they can choose to dine elsewhere if they wish. This model came about as a consequence of the Pay As You Dine (PAYD) project, adopted in 2005. As someone who worked on the project, the only attraction of PAYD is that it gives personnel choice in how they spend their money on food. The downside is that soldiers can eat unhealthy food, alone, at fast-food outlets and miss out on the bonding that comes from communal dining. 

The good news, though, is that for those serving in the field or on combat operations, food is provided by the outstanding military chefs of the Royal Logistic Corps, which can trace its lineage to a French chef, Alexis Benoît Soyer, who taught them how to cook after the debacle of the Crimean War.

Lt Col Lyndon Robinson (retd)
Mursley, Buckinghamshire

Mugshot maverick

SIR – When I read that Donald Trump was going to get his mugshot taken (report, August 26), I was hoping for the classic look of louche criminality: black-and-white side and front shots, dishevelled hair, board round the neck with location and date. Instead, we get something that looks like the side of a can of tinned fruit. 

The original format was good enough for Jim Morrison, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, so why not Mr Trump?

Dominic Weston Smith
Fernham, Berkshire

Failing Royal Mail 

SIR – Mark Wade (Letters, August 27) is far from being alone in his lack of letter deliveries. Our postal service was reorganised in February to be “more efficient”. Since then we have had a maximum of two deliveries per week, and we are currently at one delivery per fortnight. 

Many in our estate have written to Royal Mail, which thanks us for our patience, which is wearing thin. Emails to our MP remain unanswered.

Sheila Carroll 
Harlow, Essex

SIR – The current failure of Royal Mail to deliver six days a week (as legally obligated) can have serious repercussions for those who do not have internet access, especially the computerless elderly, who might miss hospital appointments or not receive prescriptions. 

My neighbours and I have attempted to find out the reason for this and even enlisted the support of our MP. So far no constructive response has been forthcoming. 

The best explanation we have received (from the local delivery office) was that many posties were “off sick”. Why now? Something is seriously amiss at the very uncommunicative Royal Mail, and I wonder if deliveries will ever return to normal.

Mark Stephens
Hungerford, Berkshire

SIR – I was living in London during the 1970s. At that time we had two deliveries a day, one at 8am and another at 4pm. I clearly remember receiving a letter in the afternoon that had been posted in Eastbourne that same morning. How times change.

Félicité Clark
Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire

Repelled by Ulez

SIR – Travelling the reasonably short distance to London from my home in Surrey is now proving more and more uncongenial, with high rail ticket prices, strikes, the congestion charge and now Ulez (Letters, September 1). 

So I’ve decided to spend my time and money visiting provincial galleries, museums and restaurants, where it seems my custom is wanted. I suspect I’m not alone. 

Stefan Reynolds
Godalming, Surrey

SIR – The academic literature suggests that air quality improvement from London’s Ulez will be marginal at best. Furthermore, if 10 per cent of drivers who own non-compliant vehicles do decide to pay up to use their cars, then pollution won’t improve one iota anyway. The scheme is just a convenient cash cow for the Mayor.

Rob Mason 
Nailsea, Somerset

A cashless kingdom

SIR – Each time Rishi Sunak is asked about protecting the use of cash (report, August 31), he mischievously slips in the word “transitioning” while giving the impression it has his support. He also says that, while protecting the ability to access cash is important, it is not the Government’s job to tell businesses whether to accept it or not. 

This implies we are on the road to central bank digital currency territory – and a time when all of our lives and lifestyles are monitored to an even greater degree by Big Brother.

Christopher Hunt 
Swanley, Kent

SIR – What is the point of having assured access to cash if one is denied the right to spend it? 

While I have some sympathy with the PM’s reluctance to require shops to accept cash, the problem remains that the less businesses accept cash – as encouraged by the banks – such assurance is rendered almost worthless. 

It could be argued that one has the freedom to support those businesses that accept cash, but even that option is being reduced: try buying a theatre ticket in London or Belfast, where it’s impossible to take one’s custom elsewhere. 

We are being herded into a world where everything we buy is monitored and, whatever one’s preference, privacy is to be denied. 

It would be interesting to know which is more expensive to society: tax evasion, which one reason given for encouraging digital payments, or the fraud facilitated by digital payment systems.

Peter Gray
Belfast

Basking in a bumper year for hydrangeas

SIR – My parents bought me a flat-headed hydrangea (report, August 25) for my 40th birthday. I am now 68 and last year, for the first time ever, it developed buds but did not flower. Thankfully, two weeks ago it flowered fully on my birthday, with lovely long-lasting white blossoms. 

It has never been moved, but has been given a little light pruning (and the odd hard cut back and good talking to). I was given another, a mop head, two years ago, which flourished immediately in a different part of the garden and is once again magnificent this year.

Elaine Foulds 
Slaithwaite, West Yorkshire

No knead

SIR – Some of the best homemade bread (Letters, September 1) can be made using a cast-iron lidded casserole dish. If the flour, yeast, salt and water are mixed together the night before, even kneading is not required. The loaf is left to prove overnight and takes 45 minutes to bake the following morning. 

The result? Beautiful fresh bread with a chewy crust, which, unlike artisan sourdough, will cost you less than a pound.

Kate Pycock
Ipswich, Suffolk

SIR – I agree the best bread is homemade, but my husband and I gave our breadmaker away when we discovered just how much weight we had both put on. The bread was so delicious that we could eat a whole loaf, spread thickly with butter and homemade lemon curd, jam or marmalade, in one sitting. We were heading towards being barrel shaped. 

Now, since we don’t like plastic-wrapped bread, we are back to the shape we were designed to be, sadly.

Ann Salmon
Heath Common, West Sussex

At home with AI 

SIR – A recent headline on the BBC website asked: “When will a robot do your dishes?” 

It seems the BBC is well behind the times – we’ve had a dishwasher in our house for years. 

A D Shaw
Taunton, Somerset

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