Letters: If you really want growth, give more money to the poor

Ms Truss will likely agree to raise benefits in line with inflation at some point and claim this is “very generous”. But to meet the scale of the crisis, benefits should be doubled or trebled for as long as the crisis continues.

Not only would this be targeting help to those who need it most, it would also do far more to maintain steady demand in the economy than tax cuts mostly going to the wealthiest. People on very low incomes given more money spend it each week on essentials. People with high incomes given more keep it in savings or investments, or buy one-off luxuries.

The freeze on public sector pay is similarly regressive, as public sector employees already have on average 6% lower wages than private sector workers.

The British Social Attitudes Survey shows 52% of the public back increasing taxes to fund increased benefits and fund public services. Windfall taxes on energy companies, and on Amazon, Netflix, delivery companies and supermarkets for profits made during Covid could partly fund this during this crisis.

The UK Government is also threatening to cut the benefits of anyone working part-time who doesn’t increase their hours of work. Yet that’s impossible for many people, either because a full-time job for someone with their skills and experience isn’t available, or they’re single parents who can’t afford full time child care.
Duncan McFarlane, Carluke

• I WAS interested to see that Gordon Brown donated his council tax rebate to help save a food bank ("Former PM Brown steps in to help as food bank faces crisis", The Herald, October 3).

A very nice gesture, but as someone who I am pretty sure lives in much more modest accommodation than the former Prime Minister, but does not qualify for a council tax rebate, perhaps he can enlighten us on how he received it?

I would be delighted to donate £150 council tax rebate to a local food bank, if only I could get one.

Any advice from Mr Brown would be greatly appreciated.
I Archibald, Edinburgh

Benefits of our tax regime

THE convoy of removal vans heading south to take advantage of the abolition of the 45p tax band in England for higher rate tax payers has done a U-turn, according to Jim McSheffrey (Letters, October 4). I can tell Mr McSheffrey those on the parsimonious convoy never left after quickly coming to their senses and before the Chancellor’s own U-turn.

Probably living in a nice area in Scotland, moving to a more expensive area in England would have meant a bigger mortgage in times of rising interest rates. Paying Stamp Duty in England on a house purchase over £250,000 of between 5% and 12% would have been a further disincentive. The upheaval of moving family and disrupting schooling not to mention costs of selling and buying and leaving friends behind would all have to be considered. Those with children at university would not enjoy Scotland’s free tuition fees and would have to find up to £9,250 per annum per student to fund tuition fees for at least three years and in the case of two children at university, another £55,000 would have to be funded from personal resources. Free prescriptions, bridge tolls, parking at hospitals and many other benefits too numerous to mention in this letter would also have to be forgone.

Let us have no more of this silly nonsense of moving away from Scotland because of tax rules. Scotland’s progressive tax regime tries to alleviate the burden on those less fortunate in society whilst everyone has some benefit. Politicians who criticise Scotland’s tax regime without mentioning the benefits are telling half-truths, but the public are not stupid.
Alan M Morris, Blanefield

Why we need a windfall tax

NOW the ridiculous abolition of the 45% top rate of income tax has been abandoned ("Kwarteng in bid to shrug off tax U-turn", The Herald, October 4), it’s time to focus on the equally ridiculous rejection of an additional tax on the windfall profits of both gas producers and electricity generators. The suggestion that a tax on unforeseen profits will discourage investment implies that investment decisions are based on abnormal revenues. If they were, the companies making these decisions would be toast.

Windfall profits will not result in increased investment, they will be converted into income for shareholders, many of whom are foreign state-owned entities, so one of the results of the current Government’s policies will be that they are borrowing money to support public services in other countries.

The taxation of windfall profits would at least contribute to a reduction in the borrowing required to address the energy price crisis, would demonstrate a degree of fiscal responsibility and would be directly linked to the duration of the crisis itself. When the prices drop the unearned profits drop and the tax goes away.

It would also provide a bit more justice than reducing benefits and public services.

Maybe all this seems a bit too simplistic, but it’s more logical than trying to pretend that letting the rich keep more of their money somehow magically makes the poor better off, or that only people on high salaries really contribute to the economy.
Cameron Crawford, Rothesay

Give us neutral indy scrutiny

NI Holmes (Letters, October 4) suggests that “our best prospect is for an independent government of Scotland to create a state where social justice is the essence of everything it does”.

That is indeed an admirable aspiration but as yet neither the Scottish Government nor the wider Yes movement has managed to demonstrate that its independence prospectus is financially sound.

We rightly expect the UK Government to publish the Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment of the consequences of the Chancellor’s “budgetary” proposals.

Why should we not demand a similarly impartial assessment of the SNP’s independence intentions?
John Milne, Uddingston

Ineptitude of the SNP

IF the First Minister is correct in her assertion that the UK Government is utterly inept, how are we to describe her performance and that of her Government? A ferry fiasco which some are alleging was tainted by fraud, a health service that is on its knees and an education system which used to be the envy of the world but is now declined to one of the worst in Europe while under the control of the SNP make me wonder if “inept” would adequately describe her performance.

Surely at some stage the Scottish electorate is going to waken up and realise how utterly inept (or worse) is the present Scottish Government?
Alan McGibbon, Paisley

A new royal lament

THE recent royal visit to Dunfermline ("Cheers greet King as historic new city honours royal links", The Herald, October 4) calls to mind the old Scottish ballad, “Sir Patrick Spens", featuring an ancient monarch, who like this one, did not have his troubles to seek. A modern version might go something like this:

The king sits in Dunfermline toun

A drinking the blude red wine

Oh where can I find a soul so gude

To avenge me of this minister prime?
John Boyle, Ardrossan

Rock on which to build an ethos

NEIL Mackay’s treatise brilliantly explores the origins of identity ("Thank goodness my identity revolves around family not flag", The Herald, October 4). It was heart-warming to read his conclusion that to love his family is identity enough. That is a solid rock upon which everything else, including ethnicity, religion and nationality, can wash across, yet leave undamaged.

When we each arrived here, without being given any opportunity to consider whether or not to accept the invitation, full and instant membership of our species was automatic. We are all Homo sapiens. The fact that everyone of us is a genetic mongrel and a citizen of planet Earth deserves to be more widely acknowledged.
Bob Scott, Drymen

Read more letters: The solution for the Tories is clear: send for Michael Gove

Letters should not exceed 500 words. We reserve the right to edit submissions.