PAUL GLEDHILL in his letter of September 13 mentions Conservative tax cuts for the rich. Which tax cuts would that be exactly?

This standard Labour line is not borne out by reality. Since coming to power, the Coalition has increased the personal allowance to more than £10,000, thus taking some lower paid workers out of the tax bracket altogether and reducing the tax burden for thousand of others.

It has reduced the level at which higher rate tax starts from more than £40,000 under the last Labour administration to just over £32,000 and has removed altogether the personal allowance for anybody earning over £100,000.

Mr Gledhill goes on to mention the increased use of food banks, public sector wage freezes and other issues, many of which I have genuine sympathy with.

However, it is easy to forget why our country is in this mess in the first place. The last Labour Government bankrupted Britain. For every £4 now collected in tax, £1 pays the interest on Britain’s debt – thanks to the last Labour Government.

Nobody likes to see people struggling, but the reality is that Britain simply has to get on with austerity to pay the debts down.

Tony Taylor, Grassholme, Woodthorpe, York.