IN the recent post-Budget debate, news coverage has mainly focused on the threat to small businesses from the huge increase in employer National Insurance (NI) contributions and to family farms by the punitive inheritance tax changes.

However, much less attention has been paid to how health and care services are similarly threatened by the counter-productive policies of Chancellor Rachel Reeves and her short-sighted government, especially when there are many fairer and simpler ways to raise more tax.

This matter was certainly raised in the Commons last week by the Edinburgh LibDem MP Christine Jardine, who has been inundated with letters from Edinburgh GPs, but other than that I have seen very little coverage of this, including in The Herald, something I find very disappointing.

Without doubt GP practices, especially partnerships, have been struggling to cope for many years but many partnership practices are now struggling to survive full stop. Others have already lost the battle, something that is not only due to a shortage of GPs but due to a crisis in the funding situation for primary care across Scotland, something now severely exacerbated by the heavy NI increases.

Most partner GPs have been struggling over recent years with grant funding that has not kept pace with rising demands on the service. Unfortunately the current grant funding method is deeply flawed and doesn't take account of individual practice staffing costs, or cost of living expenses such as utilities and maintenance. Indeed, things are now so bad that many partners have been forced to take a real-term pay cut in recent years to address this funding gap in order to support their staff, practice and patients. One GP I spoke to told me he had not had an increase since 2020 and has had in fact to take a pay cut in the last two years.

Surely it is simply unviable to expect GPs to continue to bail out the NHS from their own personal income when in recent years they have been encouraged to expand their range of services, but with inadequate grant funding and very limited alternative sources of increasing their practice income.

Thus the situation was already chronic, but for GPs to be now told that they have to fund a severe increase in employers' NI contributions could be the fatal blow for many practices. This is very likely to result in either a reduction in doctors’ sessions (patient appointments) or possible closure.

As a direct consequence, many practices are now facing the appalling dilemma of either making their salaried GPs redundant or reducing their own partner sessions. This will inevitably lead to a drastic deterioration in primary care and make it even harder for many patients to see a doctor, an outrageous situation for all concerned.

Surely one simple measure to alleviate the situation would be to exempt partnership practices and other sectors of the health and care services from this ludicrous NI tax increase, especially when they are already struggling to cope. Primary care is in many ways the heart of the health service, but it is a heart that may well soon require emergency resuscitation unless this very harmful and counter-productive tax increase is removed.

John Hodgart, Ardrossan.

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What would aliens make of us?

MUCH can be learned from art and science fiction in particular.

If the proverbial aliens arrived on Earth tomorrow demanding to be “taken to your leader" one wonders where we would direct them.

If things took a nasty turn, where would we find our Captain Steven Hillier (as played by Will Smith in Independence Day) to lead the resistance? A Captain Scarlet would be handy too, what with his previous dealings with the Mysterons and his indestructibility.

Of course, given our current efforts at self-destruction we might not even notice the arrival of the aliens or simply dismiss it as fake news before returning to slaughter and preparing for the spontaneous combustion of the planet in 2035 or whichever next date the boffins are certain it will happen.

The aliens might conclude that invasion and occupation is not worth their while and move on to another galaxy far, far away.

Keith Swinley, Ayr.

Charities will be the losers

THE reported conduct of members of Captain Sir Tom Moore's family relating to the £39 million raided ("Neighbours mixed on report into running of Sir Tom foundation", The Herald, November 22) in my view exposes greed beyond belief. There is no contrition, far less apology. A neighbour comments: "I could not care less any more. They are not going to jail or have to repay it ...". Really? If this was a benefit fraudster or someone avoiding a TV licence charge the authorities would be knocking at the door.

So much for a show of public concern. The real losers? I would suggest this bad publicity may affect many local and national charities.

Allan C Steele, Giffnock.

Timetable troubles

IN this age of computers and smartphones, if, like me, you don't "do" computers, and don't own a smartphone, you probably feel that digital exclusion is running rampant.

Take ScotRail as an example.

Periodically, I travel to Edinburgh. Since I no longer like driving in heavy traffic, and it is better for the environment to use public transport, I choose to travel by train. However, it is very difficult and frustrating to try to find suitable train times, since ScotRail no longer does train timetables.

So I thought it would be worth asking ScotRail to provide me with a copy of weekend train times between Aberdeen/Arbroath and Edinburgh. So, between January of this year and October, I have phoned ScotRail inquiries and customer relations five times, and been assured that this would be seen to ("straight away", I was promised one time), but nothing has been forthcoming.

I tried writing to customer relations in September and got no response. When I phoned them after that, I was told a printed copy had been sent; "it must have got lost in the post", which, in my experience, is what businesses and companies say when they haven't actually bothered: the same as "10 full working days/a fortnight" can be translated as "we're hoping we can ignore you and get away with it".

It seems to me that digital exclusion reigns supreme at ScotRail.

David Jamieson, Monifieth.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased employers' National Insurance in her BudgetChancellor Rachel Reeves increased employers' National Insurance in her Budget (Image: PA)

Ouch, that must have hurt

SANDY Gemmill (Letters, The Herald, November 21) refers to 1980/81 when the highest rate of income tax was 60%. I go back further. In 1974/75 the highest rate was 83%. When the Investment Income Surcharge was added it gave a total of 98%. This was under Chancellor Denis “till the pips squeak” Healey.

David SW Williamson, Kelso.