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‘Not enough people’ pay top tax band, reader says
George (MetroTalk, Tue) takes Labour to task for failing to raise the higher tax rates.
Could I please remind him that raising the 45 per cent tax rate – although ‘popular’, as he puts it – simply does not raise enough money, because not enough people pay it.
Raising the basic rate from 20 to 21 per cent would raise £8.2billion a year. Raising the 45 per cent rate to 46 per cent would raise just £230million.
This is why Rachel Reeves was in a tough spot. Otherwise ‘tax the rich’ would have been an easy decision for her as a Labour politician.
And as for what George describes as the ‘cruel’ new immigration policies outlined by home secretary Shabana Mahmood, Labour doing nothing may please some in the short term but in the long run, Reform could get power due to Labour failing to tackle the issue at all – and Reform’s policies will run far deeper, believe me.
The nation seems to want its own way, perfectly, on everything, all of the time.
One needs to learn the art of compromise – recognising that voting for some policies that you don’t like today may stave off far worse policies you would despise tomorrow. Be ‘cruel’ to be kind, indeed. Kevin, Lewisham
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Reader questions if it is ‘cruel to expect migrants to use family jewellery to pay for any housing costs’
Backbench Labour MPs – and your columnist Sharan Dhaliwal (Metro, Tue) – say it is cruel to expect migrants to use family jewellery to pay for any housing costs.
I have sold my grandma’s jewellery and sentimental items when I’ve been poor. Better than going hungry! I don’t see it as much to give away for a safe place to live. People used to call it portable property – items you can take with you and sell when needed. Tara, Cambridge
We need proportional representation, reader says
I couldn’t agree more with Alan (MetroTalk, Tue) who says we need proportional representation (PR).
Governments that win a majority with just 30-35 per cent of the popular vote are bad for democracy because at least two thirds of the electorate doesn’t share the winning party’s vision for the country’s future.
The last few years have surely disproved the notion that our First Past The Post system produces strong and stable governments.
Opponents of PR often claim that it would make it easier for far right parties to win more seats but, in the current climate, Reform UK could win an overall majority under FPTP but not under PR.
In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ far right party could have won a majority if FPTP had been used, but as it was his party had to do a deal with the centre-right parties that fell apart within two years of the 2023 election.
That meant fresh elections last month but is surely preferable to five years of a far-right government supported by only one third of voters. Alan Yearsley, Sheffield
‘How much of the Epstein Files are the US government going to try and redact before they release them?’
I’ve been following Donald Trump’s back-and-forth on whether the Epstein files should be released (Metro, Tue), with the US president appearing to spiral into a meltdown once enough Republicans looked poised to vote to release them.
Trump made a big deal about getting the files on the late paedophile financier released during his campaign to return to power. But once he was in power, he started claiming the files were a Democrat ‘hoax’ when even his most ardent supporters would not drop the subject.
This week he claimed he has nothing to hide, and his party were free to vote in favour of releasing the documents.
At the time of wrting, the release of the Epstein files seems to be all but a forgone conclusion.
The question will be is how much of it are the government going to try and redact before they do so? Matthew, Birmingham
Should people stop ‘impatiently pressing the train door button before the train has stopped’?
I have to agree with George (MetroTalk, Fri) regarding people impatiently pressing the train door button before the train has stopped.
Similarly, on buses, why do people ring the bell when it’s already been rung (usually multiple times)? The loud ‘ding’ and red sign saying ‘Bus stopping’ indicate you don’t need to. It must send the driver crazy! Ann Smith, South-East London
A cool poem written by a reader
Snow / Shall the ice’d flowers dance upon the albion land / Upon the highland rises and shallow’d beaches /With cold breath to the bone? Paul The Poet, via text
Do you agree with our readers? Have your say on these MetroTalk topics and more in the comments